


Arkham Carinval

by HiddenBookShelf



Category: Arkham Kn, Batman: Arkham (Video Games), Batman: Arkham - All Media Types
Genre: Arkham Verse, Batman - Freeform, Batman: A Death in the Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-05-31 02:26:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 43,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15109883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenBookShelf/pseuds/HiddenBookShelf
Summary: Two years after the events of the Knightfall Protocol,Tim Drake and his wife are trying to lead a normal life. They've finally settled down and they are getting ready to have their first kid... But fate has other plans. Just as they are settling into civilian life, Jim implores Nightwing to help track down and arrest Bruce's one last loose end; Jason Todd. Nightwing, deciding that he can't do this alone, drags Robin out into the field for "one last mission."





	1. When The Bat's Away

When The Bat’s Away 

Nightwing stared down from the rooftop overlooking the balcony of the mayor’s office. He couldn’t help but think that it had been designed especially for these types of meetings. Gotham had a wide array of perches for covert meetings in the night. Thunder rolled in the distance and he lifted his eyes to the sky. There were no stars or moon. The sky was blanketed in clouds that held a promise. There was a storm on the horizon. If he had been more superstitious, he would have taken it as an omen. 

He twirled one of his stun batons in his hand while he observed the goings on inside the office. Mayor James Gordon was meeting with someone Dick didn’t recognize, so he kept to his perch on the building across the street. It was Jim who had called this late night meeting in the first place. He hadn’t given Dick too much information about what they were doing there, just to meet him on the balcony.

It had been two years since Bruce Wayne’s official death and after that horrific night, crime in Gotham had plateaued without a drastic rise or fall after the initial downward spiral. Most of the criminals were still behind bars. They had finally crossed a line so big that the US government demanded they be taken to their lockup, but some, including Harley Quinn, had escaped or gotten off on a technicality. While things had calmed down in Gotham, they weren’t looking up in Bludhaven, so he usually had his work cut out for him. It wasn’t often that he visited his sister city, and even rarer still for him to be fully costumed instead of on a trip to visit Tim and Barbara. 

He watched as Jim bid farewell to the person in his office, shaking the man’s hand with a smile. Everyone in the city just seemed happier; like there was a weight that had been lifted. But, something still lurked in the shadows of the city and Dick hoped that wasn’t why he was here. After the man left, Jim straightened his desk absently, as if he was stalling. When he finally stepped out onto the balcony for a smoke, Dick jumped into the air and landed gracefully on the concrete railing. Jim didn’t seem to notice. “You know,” he said, “I shouldn’t really be seen with the mayor of Gotham. It might give the folks back in Bludhaven the wrong idea. They might start thinking I moved in to take over for the Batman.” 

Jim flinched, but years of working alongside Batman had taught him not to be surprised when people in spandex appeared behind him without warning. He turned to face Dick with a soft, weary smile. “It’s good to see you, Nightwing,” Jim said. He offered Dick a smoke, only to be waved off. “Sorry for making you come out here like this. God knows I’d rather it be under better circumstances.”  
Dick nodded and stepped down from where he was crouching on the railing. He juggled the stun baton absently. “So, who am I up against? Two-Face, Harley...? She got out, didn’t she?” He paused and then smiled. “Oh, please tell me it’s the Riddler!” He teased. 

Jim didn’t seem amused by his nonchalant attitude. “Red Hood,” he said. 

Instantly, Dick’s demeanor darkened. Red Hood... the Arkham Knight... Jason Todd... Robin... he had been monitoring the situation, but being trained by Batman and having no known identity outside the Hood had left the man nearly impossible to track. He figured one day it would come to this. They couldn’t just let Jason roam the city and do things his way. The trail of bodies he left was hard to overlook. “I thought he was helping...” While Dick didn’t approve of Red Hood’s methods, no one could deny that the stagnant crime rate was in part due to fear of inciting his wrath. 

“He’s still a criminal,” Jim pointed out. He leaned against the railing and looked down at the streets below. “And he’s ruling this city with fear. I know he doesn’t hurt civilians, but if a good cop gets in his way, we’re not sure he won’t fill the man with lead.” 

Dick sighed. He had stopped juggling the baton and had taken to absently fiddling with it, running his hand over the smooth black surface. How many times had he had run ins with rookie cops who would rather fill him with holes than work with him? Too many to count, he supposed. He knew where this was going. “You want me to help you arrest him?”

Jim shook his head. “I want you to reel him in,” he clarified. “Out of respect for who he was and what he meant to Batman, I owe him this one chance.” He gripped the concrete rail tightly. “Find him and convince him to give up the Hood, or I can’t guarantee the next time he and my men cross paths, it won’t end in a trip to the morgue.” 

Dick bit his lip, but didn’t try to argue with that. Jim was only doing what he thought was right, and if that meant hurting Jason, then that was what had to happen. “Right...” He didn’t even know where to start looking. Jason was a ghost; appearing and disappearing almost out of thin air. There were, as far as he knew, no big crime plots to draw him out and locating him in any other way would be next to impossible. He figured that it meant he would have to start looking for petty crime. Jason probably didn’t take time off when there weren’t huge things going on.

He hoisted himself onto the railing and prepared to take off, but stopped when Jim grabbed his arm. He wanted to scoff. The old man was getting too comfortable with the vigilantes running around for his own good. 

“Leave my family out of this.”

Dick closed his eyes. Leaving Barbara out of it was a given. She would soon be giving birth to Tim’s child, but Tim himself... That was impossible. He wanted to tell Jim that leaving the other Robin out of this was asking a bit much, but he held back. He didn’t need Jim’s permission to drag Tim back into the fray for one last mission. “Barbara doesn’t have to know,” he said. He didn’t wait for Jim to mention the other half of that equation before he jumped off the railing and grappling away. He landed just of Jim’s sight and sighed. 

“Alright, Jason... time for a family reunion...”

****

“Dinner is served!” Tim said as he placed a plate of spaghetti on the table. Barbara smiled up at him, wheeling carefully to her side of the table. 

“It looks delicious, but you didn’t have to cook,” she said. She had just arrived home from work, and Tim had wanted the surprise her by making dinner.

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head affectionately. “I know.” He patted her swollen belly and then took his seat on the other side of their small table. “We’re going to have to get a new one soon,” he observed. The table was only built for two. 

It had taken him a while to acclimate into civilian life again. Both he and Barbara had been weary of bringing a child into this world. Was it safe? Would their child be happy in this city? As time moved on, the environment they lived in proved safer and they had decided to take that risk together. It had been a rough few months. There were a lot of complications in the pregnancy, but they always managed to pull through. He couldn’t wait to bring their daughter into the world. 

“So, how are things at the GCPD?” Tim asked. Barbara had taken to running the computers in the precinct, but her time there was almost over as she was more than willing to take a back seat from working to care for their child. He had offered to leave his job instead, but they both knew that the job would be waiting for her once she was ready to go back. 

“Good,” She said. “There was a robbery in Bristol last night, so we’re just cleaning up the mess. The robber was found gunned down a few blocks from the place he hit.” 

Tim scowled. That was the story for most of the cases recently. Bodies were turning up more frequently; but only bodies of criminals. Barbara smiled, either not noticing his frown or choosing to ignore it. Both of them knew why it was happening and neither one of them wanted to admit it. 

“What about your students?” 

He owned and operated a self-defense dojo. “Clumsy as always, but I can’t say I blame them. Not everyone is a Batman in training.” He joked, but he missed Bruce and wished that things had ended better that night. A part of his mind blamed himself for what had happened, but the more rational side reasoned that there had been nothing he could have done. He didn’t know which side was winning most of the time. “We have a contest in a few days. Just a quick overnight trip to Bludhaven. I can cancel if you want…” he added quickly, looking at her belly. It wouldn’t be long before their child arrived.   
“No, no,” Barbara said, waving her hand. “Don’t do that. Those kids work hard and you should be there for them.” She rested a hand on her stomach. “Don’t you worry about this. Dad would move heaven and earth to make sure nothing happened to me or his grandchild. Go on.”

Time laughed. “That’s true.” He bit into the meal. Life had been pretty good. He hated admitting to himself that he did miss his time as Robin, but at the same time, he enjoyed the relative safeness of the mundane civilian life. 

As the two ate, their conversation turned to more mundane things. Neither one wanted to discuss the crime rate in Gotham. Tim often felt like it was still his duty to protect it even though he knew that doing so would only lead him down the same path as Bruce Wayne. It was an unspoken thing between them. Jim knew who they were, but even though there had been speculations about his identity in the underbelly, and people had at least figured it out in some capacity, with Bruce dead, there wasn’t the need to get revenge on his allies. They felt it was a matter of time, but they couldn’t put their lives on hold waiting for the drop that may never come.

Tim had often thought of joining the police force, but he felt that was too on the nose. He even considered going into the military, but that thought had been quickly banished from his mind. As much as they didn’t like to admit it, they both wanted to move past what had happened all those years ago, and bringing a child into the world was their first step in doing just that. 

That was until he saw a flash of blue on the roof of the building across the street. Tim froze and held his fork up in mid-bite as he stared past Barbara and out the window into the rainy night, silently praying he was seeing things. 

“Is something wrong...?” Barbara asked. She probably recognized the look in his eyes. The slight hint of panic that made anyone trained in their line of work pause as their blood ran cold. Rain was pouring outside and he willed the flash of blue to just be lightning. At trick of the eye… anything other than what he already knew it was… But it came again and this time it was unmistakable. A man dressed in blue and black was staring at them through the window. Their eyes met for a single heartbeat and then Nightwing vanished.

“No,” Time said, shaking his head. He brought the food to his mouth and chewed slowly “Sorry.” 

Barbara lifted an eyebrow, silently asking him why he even bothered. “It’s Dick, isn’t it?” she asked. He smiled. It wasn’t easy to pull the wool over her eyes. 

“Yeah.” There was no point in trying to continue to lie about it. 

She turned around in her wheelchair to look out the window, but he was gone by that point. “Are you going to see what he wants?” She probably had the same feeling that he did. There was only one reason he didn’t come to the door; he wasn’t here for a family visit. He was here on business.

Tim stared down at the half-eaten plate of food. He didn’t want to acknowledge Nightwing. He didn’t want to acknowledge that the life he had left behind still existed out there. “He can wait.” Anything that meant Nightwing was prowling Gotham was bad news for him and the peaceful life he was trying to lead after Bruce’s death. 

Their pleasant dinner was tainted, though. They continued to eat, but without talking this time. The sound of their forks hitting their glass plates and the soft hum of their heater were the only sounds in their apartment. 

The awkward silence of uncertainty hung between them until Tim finally put his fork down. Neither one of them were going to be able to settle down until they knew why Dick Grayson was prowling around outside. “I’ll go take Jay out...” he said. He whistled and a large, black greyhound came bounding in. Neither one of them had wanted a dog, but Jim had insisted. He said that it would help deter robbers, though Tim was convinced that nothing deterred criminals in Gotham. If Batman didn’t, nothing really would. But to set his mind at ease, they had settled on rescuing an old greyhound from a gambling ring that had been busted. If the dog had been younger, it wouldn’t be built for apartment life, but the old boy was perfectly happy lounging around their apartment. Having him around also gave Tim to motivation he needed to get up and at night, so he remained physically fit even in his civilian life. 

He hooked the leash onto Jay’s collar and took him down the steps to the apartment complex’s dog run. It was nice of them to have a fenced off area for people with dogs. Though, most of their neighbors had small dogs, so the yard was small. The rain didn’t bother him or Jay as he opened the gate and stepping inside the dimly lit yard. He didn’t call out to Dick, hoping that if he didn’t acknowledge why he was outside in the rain with their dog, he wouldn’t have to face it. 

Fate was not on his side. Just as he let Jay roam off leash in the fenced in area, Nightwing was there to greet him. He leapt over the fence, but kept his distance, as if acknowledging that this meeting was unwarranted and wholly unwanted. “Jay, attack,” Tim said after a minute. The dog looked at him and, instead of attacking, Jay bounded to Dick and jumped on him with all the ferocity of a kid hugging their dad after he got home from work. Tim watched Dick play around with Jay for a moment before asking “did anyone see you?”

He looked mildly insulted by the question. “Do you really have to ask that?” Tim shrugged. They stayed in silence for a moment. Dick kicked the ground and the rain between them was almost deafening. “How goes it? How’s Barbara?” Tim didn’t respond past an annoyed stare. He crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his heels. “You cooking for three yet...?” Dick tried. He patted Jay’s head and sent the dog off to do his business. “So...”

“What do you want, Nightwing?” Tim asked impatiently. 

Dick sighed, holding out his hands in surrender. Usually when they met, it was pleasant. Tim actually liked having his predecessor come around and had been looking forward to their child having him as an uncle. But this wasn’t a family visit; this was a business meeting with Nightwing. “Your help.” Tim grimaced and took a step back, recoiling from the thought of suiting up again. Dick seemed to have anticipated the kneejerk reaction, because when he spoke again, it was rushed. “Now, before you give me your answer...”

“No.” The word was blunt and it hung between them like a gunshot in the street. He didn’t want to hear the explanation. 

Dick frowned. “You... didn’t even let me explain.”

Tim shook his head. “I don’t care.”

He took a step forward. “Just listen...” 

“The answer is no,” Tim repeated. “You know I don’t do that anymore.”

“Would you consider...?”

“I’ve got a kid on the way,” Tim snapped, cutting him off. Dick bowed his head with a soft wince. “I can’t just... go back into that life.” He sighed when he noticed the other man flinch. It hadn’t been easy for any of them. “You and I... we barely survived our times as Robin.” He gestured to the apartment building. “I can’t put her through that again...”

Dick sighed. “I understand but, it’s a family matter…” 

“Really, now? How do you figure?”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He clearly understood when he was asking for when he came to Tim with this request. “It’s Red Hood.”

Tim froze and suddenly he couldn’t feel the rain running down the back of his neck. “What’s he gone and done this time?”

Dick shrugged. “Just being himself,” he admitted. “Jim wants him off the streets... for good.” 

Tim still didn’t move or react visibly. He didn’t like to admit that he was okay with Jason’s work as long as it kept the need for Robin to be on the streets at bay. No one liked how he did things, but he wasn’t hurting anyone that didn’t deserve to get hurt. 

Dick took Tim’s silence as the go ahead to keep pitching. “Bruce didn’t leave us with a lot to clean up, but this is one mess he did leave us.” Tim scoffed. “He’d want us to reel him in... to at least try save him from being gunned down in an alleyway; either by criminals or the police.”

“If Bruce cared so much, he’d come out of hiding and deal with Jason Todd himself,” Tim spat. 

Dick crossed his arms. “You know why he can’t do that...” he said it with an air of uncertainty. There had been a disagreement between the two about what had actually happened that night. Tim firmly believed Bruce had simply gone underground to protect them, but Dick remained cautiously optimistic that the whole thing had been an act. Either way, neither had heard from him since. 

Tim looked up at the rooftops as if expecting the Red Hood to be there, watching their little meeting. “Jason is a lost cause,” he said with a shrug. “If the GCPD gun him down, then that’s his fault.”  
Dick shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You didn’t... you didn’t know him before Joker got him. He was eccentric, yes, but he was a good kid.” 

“And then Joker took that goodness and poisoned it,” Tim said, waving off the attempt at pathos. “The kid you knew is gone.”

“He doesn’t have to be,” Dick grumbled. The two stood, staring at each other in the rain. Tim didn’t want to get involved. He wanted to walk away from that life and never look back. But he looked at the dog wandering the yard. He had named the animal Blue Jay. It had been his choice. It was a clear sign that the life he had tried to leave behind never truly left him. He’d always be a part of that world, no matter how much he wished he could just forget it. “One last mission?” Dick offered. 

Tim shook his head and turned his gaze to the ground. He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. “You and I both know that when you start saying things like that, one last mission doesn’t mean anything until you end up in a pine box.” 

Dick nodded slowly, pondering the words. Tim knew that he agreed. There was so much left unsaid between them. “If it comes down to who gets a bullet in their head, I’ll make sure it’s me,” Dick promised.

Tim smiled uneasily. It wasn’t a funny joke, but then again, he had never really found Dick to be very funny. He looked up at the apartment that he shared with his wife and would soon share with a small life they had created together. They wanted to move out of the city, into the outskirts in hopes to raise their child in a place that didn’t remind them every waking moment of the horrors they had seen in their lives. They had plans… and those plans didn’t include him suiting up for one last mission to take down the one loose end that Bruce had left them with.

He sighed and held out his hand. Dick took it with a smile, but Tim squeezed the handshake harder than was socially acceptable. He pulled the costumed man a little closer. “I’m holding you to that, Nightwing.”


	2. The Birds Will Play

Tim stepped into the apartment after wandering the halls for a while. Jay bounded in towards where Barbara was reading a book in the living room. She petted the dog affectionately. Tim smiled wistfully at the display and tried not to think about what this new mission could mean.

“What did he want?” she asked, breaking him out of his trance.

“Oh, nothing really,” he said with a smile. “He’s just here tracking the Riddler, I think, and he wanted to make sure I knew why so I didn’t get worried if I saw him grappling around.” The lie came out smoothly and she nodded after pausing for a moment.

“Trophies?”

Tim laughed. “Probably. The guy misses Batman, so he’s hoping to make Nightwing his new nemesis or something. He’s had two years to set up various death traps all over the city.” He wasn’t sure she believed him, but she didn’t push the subject. After a quiet evening, he helped her into bed and settled in beside her. She was asleep within moments, much to his relief and jealousy.

He remained awake, staring at the ceiling as the fan rotated sluggishly above them. Dick had offered to do most of the work regarding the actual sting, and that left Tim to suit up to help take him down. They were going to do it the night he was supposed to be in Bludhaven to avoid arousing suspicion from Barbara. Jim wouldn’t like that he was doing this, but it had to be done. Dick was right. Jason was dangerous and needed to either stop this foolery or get behind bars.

When he was sure that she was fast asleep, he got of the bed and walked to the closet, but didn’t open the door. Hidden away behind suits and uniforms was his Robin persona. He had buried it in the closet where he had prayed to whoever was listening that he would never have to wear it again. “One more time,” he said, reaching for the closet door.

Barbara stirred in the bed and the movement made him whip his hand back like someone recoiling from a striking snake. “Tim…?” Barbara whispered. “Is something wrong?”

“No…” It wasn’t uncommon for him to be unable to sleep either due to nightmares or general fears. “Just… couldn’t sleep, is all,” he said. He walked back to the bed and settled back in. She shifted slightly so that she was resting her head on his arm. He held her until she was asleep again. Sleep didn’t come for him and he was still awake when dawn’s light infiltrated their bedroom.

* * *

 

“He’s on your left…”

Tim sighed. “Affirmative.” He snuck on the roof top until he saw a man walking down the street. “I see him,” he said. “Are you sure he’d be stalking this guy?” The man was a street level thug. “He doesn’t seem like someone Red Hood would waste his time with…”

Nightwing sighed through the comlink. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Jim said that this man’s criminal record had been hacked, but all he’s been charged with is assault and battery, so no one’s quite sure why Hood’s taken the interest in him.”

“Perfect,” Tim muttered. It was just after sunset and they had been tailing this guy for over an hour without any leads. “You said we’d do it tonight, and all you’ve got to show for your efforts is a guy whose crimes aren’t any worse than Jason’s?”

“Sorry,” Dick said. He sounded annoyed and Tim smiled, as if that was his intention. “Next time I’ll break Penguin out of prison and draw him out.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“You’re hilarious,” Dick groaned. Tim’s smile turned into a smirk. If he wasn’t going to get a peaceful evening with his students, then he was at least going to give his partner hell for dragging him on this mission. “So, what’s Barb think you’re doing tonight, anyway?”

“I’m supposed to be in Bludhaven,” Tim answered. “He’s stopped. Hold up.” The man they were trailing had paused in an alleyway to make a business transaction.

“Drugs?”

“Why would I be in Bludhaven for drugs?”

Dick laughed. “No, is our guy buying drugs?”

“Oh… yeah, I think he is.” He squatted on the rooftop and rocked onto his heels. “Damn, it’s cold,” he grumbled. The night was freezing and there was a chance of snow later on in the evening. He hoped to be able to finish what was needed to be done here and then take off for the contest the next day so he at least wasn’t completely lying to his wife. He wouldn’t be able to make it if it snowed heavily.

“Winter in Gotham.”

Tim looked across the alleyway as Dick came to the edge of the building he was on. Dick waved at him and got an annoyed scowl in return. Though he was the older, more experienced of the two, it was clear which one of them was more mature.

“How’s civilian life treating you?” Dick asked.

Tim rolled his eyes. “Fine. It would be better if you stopped trying to drag me away from it. When are you going to settle down, anyway?”

Dick looked up at the sky. “No idea,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe one day. Our line of work doesn’t really allow for that.”

“ _Your_ line of work,” Tim corrected. “Just to be clear, this is a onetime deal. You’d understand if you found someone.”

“Well, when I meet someone as great as Barbara, you’ll be the first to know.”

Tim grabbed a small rock from the roof and threw it at Dick, hitting him on the head. It bounced off harmlessly. “Eyes off,” he snapped.

“I’m kidding,” Dick said, but his tone implied that he was teasing more than kidding. “But, hey… I really am sorry about this, alright? If it had been anyone else, I would have handled it alone.”

“And if it was anyone else, I would have let you,” Tim said, but he knew that Jason was their problem. He was that final loose end. Though, a part of him wanted to be selfish. It wanted to be happy that Jason was out there doing all of this because it meant that he didn’t have to. “He’s on the move.”

They started their trailing again and followed the man to another, secluded area by the docks. Tim crouched on the overpass above. Sure enough, after a few minutes, a man in a red hooded suit came walking down the dock. “It doesn’t make any sense,” Dick muttered. Tim nodded. Jason was known for going after big threats, not the random guy who got in a fight one time.

They waited just long enough for Jason to start roughing the man up before jumping into the line. “Red Hood,” Dick called. Tim hung back, letting Nightwing handle this.

Jason flinched, but not enough to show that he hadn’t seen them coming. He pulled out the other pistol, keeping the first trained on the man they had all been following. “Well, if this isn’t a surprise,” he said. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a whole flock; the pretty boy,” he pointed to Dick with the gun, “the disappointment, and the replacement scrappy.” He ended by training the weapon on Tim’s head. He laughed. “What are you even doing here, Robin? Don’t you have an egg in the nest or something?” Tim narrowed his eyes, but didn’t flinch. “That’s right! You’re going to be a dad soon, but here you are with a gun to your head, two seconds from death. Why risk it?”

“This has to end, Hood,” Tim said, trying to keep his voice steady. He couldn’t flinch. If he did, Jason would take it and run with it.

“What does? Justice?”

“You’re brand of Justice,” Dick said, taking a tentative step forward. Tim shot him a warning glance.

“That’s a joke, right? I’m the reason crime hasn’t risen exponentially since Bruce bit the dust. Where is he, anyway?”

“You can visit his and Alfred’s graves if you want,” Dick offered. Jason turned his masked face to him and slowly moved the gun from Tim’s head to his.

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“That’s the only answer you’re getting. Gordon wants you off the streets.”

Jason laughed. “Right. I do 90% of the police’s job and they repay me by sending the Boy Wonder and his little sidekick to take me out.”

Dick narrowed his eyes. “Why am I the sidekick?” he grumbled. Tim shot him a look at just screamed “now’s not the time for that!”

“Well, if that’s the case.” He turned the gun around and offered it to Dick. “Do your job, Nightwing.”

He didn’t move to take the gun, though Tim figured that it would be a good idea to at least take it to half unarm Jason. “We’re not here to take you out; we’re here to take you in.”

“Are you seriously defending this man?” Jason snapped.

“He did his time for what he was charged for,” Tim reasoned. “Why are you even bothering?”

Jason shook his head. “The assault and battery charges were all they could get him on! This man’s a deranged lunatic, but very good at covering his tracks. He got off on a technicality, but I won’t let that happen!”

“Those charges were never proven!” the man snapped.

“See? He’s not even denying he did it! Just that they were never proven.”

Dick took a careful step forward and Tim followed his lead. “We aren’t judge, jury and executioner, Hood…”

“Maybe we should be!” Jason snapped. “It’d save a lot of people a lot of heartache if we just killed the scum that roam these streets. I’ve already proven that it works! Why do you think I have the time to handle wastes of life like this man?”

“Just… put the gun down and let’s talk about this,” Dick said. Tim nodded and moved forward a few more steps.

Both of them froze when the gunshot rang out. Since he didn’t feel the shot, Tim half expected Nightwing to be lying on the ground bleeding, but he was still standing. The man, however, had slumped onto the railing of the dock and his body fell unceremoniously into the river below. “You…” Tim gasped.

“What? Are you surprised?” He put the guns back into their hostlers. “Why?” Neither one spoke. “Oh, I get it. You thought you could come here and _save_ me, didn’t you? You thought you could _fix_ this! Well, nothing is going to fix the hell I went through. The only thing that will make it better is preventing it from happening to anyone else!”

Tim stepped forward. “Jason…”

“You should be _thanking_ me, Robin,” Jason snapped, cutting him off. “I’ve made it possible for you to have a little robin in your nest! Without me, you’d still be running these streets pretending to be the Batman!”

Tim stopped his advance and narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t known Jason Todd, so he had no emotional attachment to him, unlike Dick, who was standing there like a deer in the headlights.

“Did you two even help look for me?”

“Of course we did,” Dick said quickly. “You know that.”

Jason shook his head. “So, are we going to fight?”

“I’d rather we not…” Tim said under his breath. Either the two of them didn’t hear him or they ignored him because just as those words left his lips, the dock exploded.

At first, Tim wasn’t even sure what had happened. One second he was standing in on a dock over the water, the next he was flying in the air, throwing his hands up to avoid the shrapnel. He landed hard on the ground and the bo staff he had been preparing for battle flew from his hands on impact. His ears rung and his eyes burned as he tried to assess the damage. Someone was shouting, but he couldn’t tell who it was and what they were saying.

His first thought, when he could think again, was that Jason had led them into a trap. It seemed the most logical explanation, but a quick examination proved that Jason had been just as caught off guard as they had. He was struggling to his feet a little ways off, only for a gunshot to ring through the night. Jason fell back with a grunt and remained still.

“Nightwing…!” Tim called, trying to get to his feet. He tried to remember which criminals were out and about and would hold enough of a grudge to set this up, but he couldn’t land on a name. If Dick had answered his calls, he didn’t hear it through the ringing in his ears.

He managed to get onto his knees before a familiar skirt got into his field of view. “You’re out of practice, Bird brain!”

Tim looked up just in time to see who it was. “Harley…?” he managed before her bat connected with his skull and everything went black.

When he came to, he was tied to a chair in a dimly lit room. At first he thought that the hit to his head was causing the room to spin, but after he blinked a few times and the ringing in his ears faded to a dull drone, he found that the room he was in was in fact spinning. The walls, at least, were rotating sluggishly and soft carnival music was playing from an unseen speaker.

He closed his eyes to block out the spinning wall and tried to assess the damage. His head was throbbing and his shoulder felt like it had been dislocated and then relocated, but all the other injuries felt like minor scratches and bruises from the explosion. He took a moment to calm his head before opening his eyes and trying the restraints. They were tied well, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Whoever tied them had used rope, which seemed odd considering that was the easiest thing to overcome.

“It’s almost like they want me to escape…” he muttered.

A groan to his left made him jump and he whipped his head a little too fast to look at it. His vision swam for a moment, and he squeezed his eyes shut in order to stop the wave of nausea from taking his stomach. When the moment passed, he opened his eyes. Dick was lying on the ground next to the rotating wall and was just waking up. Tim took a moment to observe him and realized that his right leg was unnaturally swollen. “Don’t move,” he said quickly.

Dick groaned, but didn’t roll over. “What happened?”

“Harley got the jump on us…”

“How the hell…?”

“She must be working with someone,” Tim said. There was no way that Harley alone could have gotten the drop on them. “Your leg is swollen pretty bad.”

“Hurts worse than it looks,” Dick muttered. He tried to sit up, but couldn’t stop the scream of pain as he fell back onto the ground. “It’s broken.”

“Bad?”

“Bad enough.” He put his forearm on his head and groaned softly. It was a soft, almost pathetic noise, but to his credit, he was probably holding in louder, more extreme sounds. “Damn, that explosion…”

Tim got to work on the ropes holding his hands and he had them loose within moments. Once he had untied his hands, he got his legs undone and then he hurried to where Dick was. He wasn’t even tied up. “Are you okay?” Tim asked as he knelt beside him.

“Right as rain,” Dick said. Tim helped him into a sitting position and started ripping the legs of his pants to relieve the pressure caused by swelling. The leg looked to be in bad shape, bit the skin hadn’t been broken, which meant the break could just be a fracture. It was an annoyance for sure, but nothing they couldn’t handle.

“You’ll live.” Tim said. He looked around the room and shook his head. He wasn’t sure how much longer he would live, but at least he wouldn’t die from the broken leg. The room they were in was circular and decorated in faded carnival colors. “Well, this brings back horrific memories.” He thought he had had enough haunted carnivals in his life, but apparently fate wanted to throw one more.

“Question is, why didn’t she just kill us? She could have. There’s no point in keeping us alive here.” Tim shrugged. Dick looked around, taking in their surroundings. “Where’s Jason…?” he asked after a moment.

Tim closed his eyes, remembering Jason being thrown back by the force of a bullet. “I don’t think he’s here,” he said. He helped Dick to his one good foot and they hobbled to the chair he had been tied to. The news seemed to have darkened his spirits. Dick didn’t say anything; probably too shaken to think properly. Tim had to hand it to him; he was handling this fairly well. They were trained by the same man after all. It only made sense that he’d be able to handle this. “It’s probably a good thing,” Tim continued. “Can you imagine what he would go through being in another Joker-esque death world?”

“Better than being dead,” Dick muttered.

Tim shrugged, but didn’t respond. They needed to figure out how to get out of the spinning room before something else happened. He looked at Dick and sighed. Alone or with both of them at least being able to walk, this would be easy. But with Dick’s leg broken, he’d had to be carried or hauled through and heaven help them if any of their deathtraps required two people to solve. “Come on… We gotta move…” he said.

Dick grabbed his arm. “Just leave me here,” he said. “I’ll only slow you down.”

“Yeah, like hell I will. Oracle would kill me if she found out that I abandoned you in the carnival of death.” He put Dick’s arm over his shoulder and hoisted him up. “Come on, you, up you go.”

“Robin… I told you—“

“Now’s not the time to owe up to that deal,” Tim snapped. “Let’s go.” He turned on his scanner and found a weak panel in the spinning wall. With Nightwing in tow, he walked to the wall and kicked it opened. It crumbled underneath the kick and he stepped out of the room. Cold wind blasted through the area as he looked down at what could only be described as a decrepit fairground.

The entire island was decorated with circus tents, funhouses, rides and more. “This must have taken them months to build,” Dick said. Tim nodded slowly. How long had she been planning this under their nose? The mainland of Gotham was still visible in the distance, but they were too far to swim. He closed his eyes and put his hand to his head, but they had no mission control. They were on their own.

He pointed. “There’s a dock over there. They got us to this island, so there has to be a way off of it. Knowing Harley, this is all just some sort of sick game.”

Dick laughed dryly. “I agree. But what’s the point? She didn’t kill us, so why is she doing this? Does she miss messing with Batman so much that she’d bring us here?”

“I’m glad you asked, boys!” a voice over the loud speaker called.

“Speak of the devil…” Tim grumbled.

“You are the first contestants of a little game I like to call _Get Everyone Out Alive!_ The rules are simple. There are fifty civilians hidden on this Grand Island and you have to save all of them!” She laughed. “Or die trying!” A helicopter flew overhead and a billboard screen came to life, showing them standing there in the wind from the blades and the spotlight. “Or you could just escape on your own. There’s a boat at the docks with keys already in the ignition that will carry three people. But remember, everyone in Gotham will be watching you fail! And Batman, I know you’re watching this… You should come save your family because they _won’t_ survive! And if we see any cops come within a mile radius of this place, we’ll sink the island.”

The screen flickered and changed to Harley standing in a white room. She laughed at the camera and twirled. Tim narrowed his eyes. Someone was standing behind her, watching with a faceless mask.

Harley threw her arms wide and smiled. The lights on the island flashed to life, almost blinding them. Music started blaring over the loud speakers. “Welcome, boys, to the Freak Show!”


	3. Welcome to the Freak Show

_Gotham City Police Department  
9:47 pm _

“I want a grounds crew on the coast line an hour ago!” Cash shouted. The department was a mess as people scrambled with the news of what was happening just off the coast. Barbara was wheeling her way in. She had been reading when the call came in that she was needed at the precinct.

“What’s the situation?” she asked as she came up to the desk where Cash had just been shouting at one of the officers who asked him a question.

“Seems Harley of all people is back to her old tricks.” He looked down at Barbara and smiled. “You shouldn’t be here. I’m sorry they called you in.”

She shook her head. “No, it’s alright,” she said. “What have we got?”

“A hostage situation on Grand Island. The property was bought early last year. No one bothered monitoring who purchased it and why, but I guess we should have. We’ve got fifty civilians on that island, plus a baker’s dozen of cops and firemen.”

Barbara navigated into the control room of the GCPD with Cash towing behind her. “What are her demands?”

“That we stay out of it. Seems she’s trying to lure the dead and buried Batman out of hiding. Or she just wants to give Robin and Nightwing a run for their money. Either way, she’s planning on blowing up the island to hell if we even think of stepping foot on it.”

Barbara froze in the doorway of the computer room, her hands hovering over the treads of the wheelchair. Even on the ride over, they hadn’t mentioned the names of who was on the island.

“Are you alright?” he asked. She knew that it was common knowledge now that she had worked with Bruce, but Tim’s identity had remained secret throughout the entire coming out process. They all knew that she knew who Robin and Nightwing were, but no one had ever bothered to ask her their real names.

“Y-yes, I’m fine…” she said as she pushed into the room. “I’ll try to get contact with them and help guide them through.”

“Good luck.” He stepped out of the room, shutting it behind him and leaving her in isolation. Barbara started at the computer monitor without seeing it. Tim had given up the Robin persona. He had been the one who insisted on shelving the mask. She picked up her phone and dialed it. She didn’t call his number. If that was him on that island, any outside contact could prove deadly. Instead, she called one of the workers at the dojo.

“Cathy?”

“Oh, Barbara!” Cathy greeted. “Busy night tonight in Gotham, I hear. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “Is Tim there?”

“Tim? No…” Cathy paused. “He said he had to sit this one out because you were sick…”

If she said anything else past that, Barbara didn’t hear it. Her mind had gone blank. “Th-thanks…” she said quietly and hung up before Cathy could answer her. She looked at the newsfeed and then the screen flickered to show Robin helping Nightwing down from a platform. The whole thing was going to be televised. She watched the footage for a moment and her stomach churned. Nightwing wasn’t putting any weight on one leg and she knew instantly that he was injured and that would just make it more difficult for them to get through.

She shook her head and worked quickly to establish a connection with Robin. Luckily, their comms hadn’t changed, and she was quick to hack in. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do!” she snapped once she had established the connection.

“Oracle…” Tim muttered.

“It’s my fault,” Dick tried, but Barbara shook her head.

“Hush, we’ll deal with that later. What’s wrong with Nightwing?”

“Broken leg,” Tim answered.

Barbara sighed. That wasn’t good. Not only would Tim have to save the hostages, but he also had to keep Nightwing safe. “Alright, I’ll get to work scanning the island,” she said, shaking her head. She couldn’t think of that now. Now she had to settle into the old routine. “You two be safe out there, alright?”

“Barb…”

“Not now, Robin,” she snapped. “Get out of there alive and then I’ll kill you.” Tim didn’t answer and Barbara laughed softly to assure him that she was just kidding… mostly. It was amazing how easily she settled into working on something like this again. It was almost like she missed it in some capacity. “Guess you never forget how to ride a bike…” she muttered.

 

_Grand Island  
10:00 pm_

“Well, she knows,” Tim said.

Dick nodded. He was trying not to focus on the amount of pain his was in, but it was getting worse since they weren’t even remotely trying to treat the injury well.

“Hey, focus,” Tim snapped. Dick nodded slowly. “Alright, she said there’s a boat at the docks with the keys already in it. That’s where we’re going.” He put his hand to the side of his head. “Oracle, I’m putting Nightwing on the first boat out of here. We need emergency medical treatment for him.”

“That’ll leave you without a way out,” Dick pointed out.

“I’d rather not be hauling you around all night if that’s okay. She wants us to save the hostages, so I’m guessing there’s another boat or something around here to get them off.”

“Unless she’s made this game unwinnable,” Barbara said.

“Always the optimist…” Dick grumbled. He shook his head and put less weight on Tim’s shoulder. He didn’t want to be more of a burden than he already was. Tim just rolled his eyes and turned around.

“On my back. The sooner I get you off this island, the sooner I can start working.”

Dick sighed, but did as he was told, climbing onto Robin’s back in a piggyback style. His usual default was to make a snide remark about how embarrassing it was, but the weight of guilt that hung on his back kept his mouth shut. They were in a death trap filled carnival with no escape because he had dragged Tim back into the fray when all he had wanted was a normal, peaceful life. He figured if there was ever a time to be quiet, now was that time.

He hung on as Tim worked his way down to the docks. Dick tried to focus on other things, but his mind kept going back to the explosion. They had been too preoccupied to even scan the area for explosives and that had almost gotten them killed. _Sometimes I feel like we aren’t as cut out for this as I thought…_ he thought. And then there was Jason, who, according to Tim, was dead. Dick didn’t believe that. Surely a guy who actually used guns would know how to counter them and would be wearing ballistics armor. It didn’t make sense for him to have died by gunshot.

But that left the question of where he was and why he wasn’t with them in the first room. If this was really some ploy to get Batman out of his perceived hiding, wouldn’t they be hanging Jason out in the open like a seal being hung over a tank to lure out the Killer Whale for the audience? Why hide him?

He looked up at one of the many monitors tracking their progress. Harley knew where they were heading and he couldn’t help but think that the promise of such an easy escape method was empty. However, it would be in her wheelhouse to offer the heroes a way out in hopes that they took it in order to prove to the world that heroes didn’t exist. He didn’t like the idea of running, but Tim was right. If he stayed, he’d be next to useless.

He must have passed out for a moment, because when he opened his eyes after not remembering he had shut them, Tim was laying him on the dock. “Man, it’s cold,” he said.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Tim said. “Good. I was about to tell Oracle that you were a lost cause. How are you feeling?”

“Like I got hit by a truck.”

“That’s still an option of what she did to us…” Tim said. He lifted Dick into the boat. It was a small, row boat situated with a small motor that didn’t look like it was in a good enough shape to get him away from the island and outside the radius that Harley had set up. “Oracle’s got an ambulance waiting for you on the mainland.”

Dick grabbed Tim’s shoulder. “Be careful, Robin.”

Tim smiled. “You get out of here alive and I’ll see you at mission control.” He looked completely distressed about letting his only escape go, and Dick didn’t want to be the one to strand him there, but they both knew that someone with a broken leg would be useless here. Tim pushed the boat off and Dick started the motor. He waved back at Tim and turned the boat towards the mainland.

He got far enough to think that he might actually be free to go before a shot rang out in the night. He spun around with just enough time to see the short-range missile hurtle towards him before it collided with the boat, sending him into the frigid water.

_Grand Island  
9:30 pm_

Jason opened his eyes to the sound of a soft music box playing gently. He was swaying slightly; just enough to cause mild nausea. He hadn’t been unmasked, but that actually made it worse. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. The music was starting to induce a panic attack, but he managed to keep it together. He looked around the room to find that he had been thrown in a cell. Unlike the rest of the island, this was decorated as a prison cell.

“Well, look who’s awake.”

He flinched slightly but didn’t give her the satisfaction. He had had enough of her voice.

“Wakey, wakey Robin!” Harley teased. She poked his side with her bat. “Doesn’t this bring back memories?”

Jason struggled against his restraints, but she hadn’t given him enough room to lash out. “Go to hell.”

She laughed. “I think that we’re already there, little birdy.”

“I don’t go by that name anymore,” Jason snapped.

“Would you prefer the Arkham Knight?” She jabbed him in the side. Luckily, they hadn’t taken off his armor, so the jabs didn’t hurt nearly as much as the psychological torture this was bringing up.

“Leave him be, Harley,” another voice, one Jason didn’t recognize, said. He turned to see someone else walking into the room. The person was wearing a black, loose fitting black hoodie with a long, straight black skirt and a white, faceless mask. “If you’re trying to lure out the Batman, you needn’t kill all the hostages just yet.”

Jason scoffed. “Is that what this is about?” he asked. “Harley, haven’t you heard? Batman’s long dead.”

She laughed at him and hit him in the ribs. He gasped softly, but didn’t give her the satisfaction of making a loud noise. “Do you really think he’d die just like that? Ha! I know he’s out there! Of course, we had to kidnap all his kids, because we all know he didn’t come after us when we just got one of them.”

“Shut the hell up,” Jason hissed.

“You aren’t in any position for making demands, birdie.”

“We need him alive, Harley,” the other person said.

Harley turned to them and rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine.”

“Who’s your friend?” Jason asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He nodded. “Yes… that’s why I asked.” The comment was rewarded by another swing to his side. This time he did let out a small yelp. He was trying to hold down the panic. If he panicked, it would be exactly what she wanted. “Where’s Nightwing and the replacement?”

“Somewhere around here,” Harley said with a shrug. “They’ll be working their way out of their own personal prison soon.”

“Nightwing is injured,” the other said.

“Is he okay?”

“Do you actually care?” she asked.

Jason shrugged. He didn’t mind Dick Grayson. He had worked a few times with Nightwing before… the incident. He was a good guy with good intentions. Jason didn’t even mind Tim, even though he called him the replacement. His kidnapping and subsequent failure to be rescued wasn’t their fault. He’d actually be mildly upset if something happened to Nightwing. He could be okay if Tim ended up dead that night. “I can take them or leave them.”

“That’s not very family-like of you,” Harley said.

“I don’t think I’m part of the family anymore,” Jason said. “Look, this won’t work. Even if he’s not dead, this won’t drag him out of hiding. He knows how well he’s trained us and he wouldn’t ruin everything by coming out now.” Harley swung the bat to his gut. He bit down on his tongue to stop a sound from coming out. It didn’t hurt, but the air was knocked out by the force.

“You don’t scream as much as you used to,” she grumbled, putting the bat on her shoulder. “Maybe I should get out the hammer.”

“Enough,” the woman snapped. “Leave him. We’ll have plenty of time torture him tonight.” She stepped forward. “Because while your predecessor and successor are running around out there like chickens with their heads cut off, you will be here, wrestling your own inner demons.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at the masked woman. He didn’t recognize her voice, and he still couldn’t place who she might be, but she was apparently the brains of this operation. He turned to Harley. What was her problem? Revenge for Joker’s death? This was an odd way to go about it. “So, what’s your game here? Torture Batman’s Robins until he can’t bear to see in pain anymore and he comes out, and then what? You kill him?”

Harley giggled. “I don’t want him dead, silly. I want him to watch everyone he’s ever cared about die and be unable to do anything about it.”

“A great plan… if he wasn’t _dead.”_

“You keep saying that as if you think repeating it will change our minds on the matter. There was no body.”

“Yeah, because it blew up… or did you miss that?”

“No, I didn’t. It was quite a show. Really fooled everyone in that godforsaken city.”

Jason sighed. “Look, if I could at least get a name from you, that’d be great. I’ve done the whole ‘I want revenge on the Batman’ thing. Heck, I even teamed up with one of his enemies and wore a mask and had an elaborate scheme similar to this. This is all very familiar. The only difference is that I wasn’t signaling to a dead man!” He ended in an angry shout. “This is pointless. Bruce Wayne is dead!”

She reached forward like a viper, grabbing his faceplate and pulling him forward with unnatural strength that threatened to rip his shoulders. She squeezed and the faceplate of his mask cracked. “Bruce Wayne may be dead,” she hissed, “but is Batman?”

“What kind of question is that?” Jason snapped, though he knew what kind of question it was. The Batman was his own person; his own legend, separate from Bruce Wayne. She released his mask and he hung there motionless for a moment, thinking. If he wasn’t dead, he still wouldn’t come here. He wouldn’t ruin the ruse he had created because his kids couldn’t handle themselves out there. He’d put too much into convincing the world he was dead. If anything, tonight would just cement that belief further. If one of them died and he still didn’t show, there would be no one left who would believe he hadn’t died in that explosion.

He didn’t speak again and the black-clad woman circled around him slowly. He didn’t like the way she was looking at him, even though he couldn’t see her face. It was like she was a lioness circling her prey; toying with it before devouring it. “I like you, Jason,” she said. He didn’t give her the satisfaction of a flinch. It would have been obvious that she knew who he was. “You’ve got spirit that they couldn’t break… Or maybe, they _gave_ it to you.” She tapped the bullet proof armor over his chest.

“I owe those monsters nothing,” Jason hissed.

“Or everything,” she said with a shrug. “Come on, Harley, I believe one of them will be trying to escape on that dingy we gave them. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“This won’t work!” Jason tried again. “Even if he _is_ alive, he knows we can handle ourselves! And if we can’t, that’s our problem.  You’re doing this for nothing!”

Harley stopped in the doorway. “Nothing is for nothing,” she said with a laugh.

The other woman nodded. “Yes. Even if we don’t draw him out, and even if he actually dead, this will kill whatever hope your pathetic city still has. They may be holding out for a hero, but tonight, there will be no hero to save you. No one will swoop from the skies to save them anymore and they’ll know it. Even you can’t stop them.”

“Scarecrow already destroyed his legend. What’s left?” Jason asked.

She turned back to him and for a moment, he felt like he could feel her eyes burning through the mask. “His _legacy,”_ she hissed. “You asked for my name. I don’t have one. I am the Faceless, the mask and only the mask.” She waved her hand. “But, if a name pleases you, you may call me what those filthy cops called me when they locked me up; Jane Doe.”

Jason smiled. “That’s not very intimidating.”

She turned her back to him. “We’ll see.”

“You two are insane! This _won’t work_!” he snapped. “Gotham will always have a hero to save it! Someone will always rise from the ashes of what you and your ilk try to burn down! There’s enough heartache in this city to fuel a hundred superheroes!”

“We’re going to string you up, little broken bird, and show the world what happens to heroes,” Doe said in a quiet, almost calming tone. Jason narrowed his eyes further. He recognized that tone; that false sense of security a torturer tried to instill into their victims. Those soft, reassuring pitches after beating someone to a bloody pulp to try and rebuild their broken mind with the words they were being told. “No one will rise from _these_ ashes.”

Jason didn’t respond and they walked out of the room, leaving him alone again with the soft sounds of the music box playing. He relaxed slightly after they were gone, using the restraints that held his arms up from the ceiling to hold his weight. It was going to be a long night, but the other two were here and he had faith in his ability to get out.

That was, until the speakers in the room came to life with a bit of static and feedback. His eyes widened and suddenly he was back in Arkham Asylum, and all he could hear, coming from the speakers, was the unmistakable sound of Joker’s laughter.


	4. Just Beneath the Surface

 

_Grand Island: Docks  
10:16 pm_

Tim hesitated. It was just for a moment; a heartbeat. He couldn’t move. His suit hadn’t been made for water. It was armor. He’d sink like a rock… But so would Nightwing; especially as he struggled with his broken leg. He flinched. Jumping in the freezing water would not only greatly diminish his chances of surviving the night, but also his chances of surviving the next fifteen minutes.

He closed his eyes and ran off the dock, diving into the water. He couldn’t just let Dick drown, even if that was the smartest thing to do. Barbara would never forgive him and he’d never be able to forgive himself. He turned on his detective mode as he swam towards the wreckage. Dick’s body lit up blue in the water. Tim could see the damage to his shin bone even as flailed around. It was a fracture, but even minor injuries were deadly here. He was struggling to submerge, but his broken leg didn’t look like it was cooperating. It didn’t kick in time, and even in his panic, it looked like Dick was favoring it. As he got closer, Dick’s struggling grew weaker.

Tim swam faster, but he was finding that swimming in armor and a cape wasn’t the easiest thing to do. The armor was keeping him warm, but water was finding its way inside, chilling him. Hypothermia was a real risk at this point. A part of him couldn’t believe that he was doing this. He shouldn’t do this. He was going to drown trying to save Nightwing and everyone else on that island would die because of it. Fifty civilians would be executed because Tim couldn’t just let one man drown.

 By the time he made it to the wreckage, Dick hadn’t resurfaced for at least thirty seconds. Tim treaded the surface for just a second and then swam down. Going down was the easy part, but Dick had a head start in the drowning department and was several feet below the surface before Tim had even begun the dive.

Tim moved his arms rapidly, but the man was sinking faster than he could swim down. He reached into his belt and pulled out the bat claw. This was a risk. Dick’s momentum could very well drag him down instead and the claw might not even find purchase in the armor, and it probably wouldn’t fly straight, but there was no way he was going to catch up to him in time just by swimming. They’d both be meeting at the bottom, and by then, one of them would be dead.

He pressed the button and the claw blasted from the gun and grabbed onto Dick’s shoulder. Tim winced and braced himself the best he could in the water. There was a brief pause before the jolt and he was dragged down at the same time Dick was pulled up. Tim tried to push down panic even as it happened. He could make it, even though his heart was pounding, using up all that precious oxygen.

They came at each other and met in the middle. Tim wrapped his arm around Nightwing’s waist and kicked towards the surface. Dick was dead weight. His struggles had long since stopped. Tim’s lungs were burning. He could hear Barbara shouting at him through the commlink, but he couldn’t even think about that. He couldn’t let himself be distracted by the thoughts of what he would be leaving behind if he didn’t make it to the surface. Her distant voice was just a bitter reminder that he had lied to her so he could end up drowning in the bay.

The edge of his vision was fading, and the surface didn’t seem like it was getting any closer. It seemed like it was still a mile away. It didn’t help that there was no shining moon to light his way back up. For all he knew, he had been swimming down this whole time and he was just as likely to reach the ocean floor as he was the surface.

Just as he opened his mouth to let in water, his head broke the surface. He coughed and spat and vomited into the river. He felt lightheaded. He only stopped long enough to make sure Nightwing’s head was above water and then he started back towards the shore. Once he had broken the surface, a helicopter turned on its spotlight. At that time, he hadn’t thought about it, but he knew later that the whole thing was being filmed and Harley hadn’t wanted to help him to the surface by shining the light.

“ _Robin_ _!_ ” Barbara was saying, but he couldn’t even give her a moment. He knew she could hear him gasping for air, so she at least knew he was alive. A wave hit him in the face just as he gasped and he got a mouthful of water. He coughed and gagged. Vomit and water came up again and he was struggling to breathe. The water was getting choppier as a mix of rain and snow began falling. For one selfish moment as he stared at the shoreline and how far he still had to go, and how exhausted he already was, he wanted to let Nightwing go. It didn’t matter to him. He didn’t even know if Dick was still alive. Tim shook his head and kicking forward. If nothing else, Dick’s resting place wasn’t going to be the damned ocean.

 Everything was burning. His muscles, his lungs, everything. He gritted his teeth until even his jaw was burning, but he didn’t stop… he couldn’t.

When he thought he would just give up, his feet hit the bottom. He pushed through the water, dragging Dick behind him until he fell to his knees in the shallows. His arms and legs were shaking, and he couldn’t stop coughing. If it weren’t for Nightwing, he’d be done here, but he didn’t even have time to throw up again. He stood on shaky legs and dragged Dick onto the shore. He sank to his knees beside him and put his cheek near his mouth.

“Robin?”

“He’s not breathing,” Tim gasped. He checked the pulse. “Starting CPR.” He started chest compressions, but his arms were like jelly as he pushed. He was shaking, but he had to get Dick breathing. “Come on!’ he shouted. He hardly had the strength for it, and even if he got him breathing again, they were still trapped in Harley’s Carnival of Doom with hostages that needed rescuing and both of them were now well on the way to hypothermia.

 Eventually, Dick coughed, and water sprayed from his mouth. Tim pushed him onto his side and rubbed his back as he went through convulsions and pushed up the water and bile.

“Y-you… you flinched…” Dick gasped between coughs. He was shivering pretty badly and Tim knew he had to get him out of the rain and snow.

He bowed his head, ashamed. “I know…”

“You have should let me drown…”

“Stop that,” Tim said. He looked at Dick’s shoulder and closed his eyes. The bat claw had done damage to his armor, and a piece of the boat had torn up his already injured leg. The claw was also gone, probably resting at the ocean floor to be discovered by some future society.

Dick grabbed his arm. “Tim...”

“We’re both getting out of here,” Tim snapped, cutting him off. “You stop trying to die a martyr.” He stood. His legs were shaking, but he managed it.

“Robin?” Barbara asked again, but he ignored her as he bent down and picked Nightwing up. They weren’t out of the woods yet and he didn’t even have anything reassuring to say to her. The likelihood of their survival was dwindling into single digits. He carried Dick bridal style into the nearest building and got to work setting up a fire. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Tim said, finally answering Barbara. “But I’m not the one you need to worry about. Nightwing needs an evac now.”

“We can’t give you one,” Barbara said.

Tim grabbed some dry wood and squatted in the center of the room to kindle the fire. “I know,” he told her. He looked over at Dick as he was trying to examine the wound on his leg. “Please tell me you have some schematics on this island.”

“I’ve uploaded a map to display. There’s a circus tent, an arcade—“

“Arcade?” he asked.

“For those stupid carnival games,” she explained. He nodded. Of course. “A Ferris Wheel and a few other rides, three separate stages for shows and at the center of it all, a funhouse.”

Tim bit his lip. “And I’m guessing the hostages are scattered around?”

“She had to make this entertaining,” Barbara said. He imagined her shrugging. He blew at the fire and it took. He pulled out some bandages and gauze that he kept in the belt and hung them over the fire to dry them. As the blaze grew, he dragged Dick closer. The leg was in bad shape. He worked in silence, creating a makeshift tourniquet.

“This is going to hurt,” he said, but didn’t give Dick enough time to even respond before tightening the rope. He worked quickly after that, removing the pieces of wood from the leg and cauterizing the wound with a shuriken. To Dick’s credit, he only screamed a couple of times during the process. Once he finished, he used a piece of wood to make a splint and them used the now dried and warm bandages to wrap the leg. It was a botched job, but it would have to do for now. “How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

Tim nodded. He sounded better, but he knew that exhaustion would catch up to both of them pretty soon. “Alright, I can’t leave you here. We’re going to rescue the first batch of hostages and then I’ll leave you with them, alright?”

“They can’t fight, and I can’t protect them,” he pointed out.

“We’ll work something out. I just need you to cooperate, okay?” Dick nodded. Tim turned away to address Barbara. “Oracle, Nightwing is stable… for now.”

“Oh, thank God.”

“I want hostage locations at the arcade. I can’t imagine what kind of death traps she has there, but we should be ready for anything. I’m down my bat claw.”

“You can have mine,” Dick offered.

Tim didn’t argue, though he’d feel better if Dick had something to defend himself with. He waited a little while longer before taking some rope from the building and making a makeshift sling to harness Dick to his back. He hoisted the man into the harness and headed outside.

“You’re shaking.”

“I’m exhausted,” Tim snapped. He didn’t mean to sound irritable, but if Dick was about to offer his sacrifice again, Tim was going to lose it.

“Look, I’m sorry…”

“Would you shut up about that? What’s done is done, Dick, and there’s nothing we can do about it now. Let’s just save the hostages and get off this godforsaken island before someone else gets killed.”

“Who got killed?” Barbara asked.

Tim winced. He hadn’t been given the chance to tell her about Red Hood. “Jason… didn’t survive the kidnapping,” he said. It would be better just to get it out. She gasped lightly. “He was gunned down during the exchange.”

“We don’t know for a fact,” Dick quickly added.

“But we can’t think about it. If he’s still alive, he’s on his own,” Tim said. “We have fifty civilians on this island that they want us to save, and that’s our priority.” _Or mine,_ he thought bitterly. Dick was dead weight at this point and was next to useless. The very fact that he was conscious at all at that moment was nothing short of a miracle.

He turned on his scanner and tapped into the communications link that the residents of Grand Island were using. The chatter that came alive in his ear was of the usual variety as he snuck through the area. They had left their makeshift base behind and were now working their way through the abandoned fairgrounds towards where the games were. Dick had rested his head on Tim’s shoulder and all he could think about was to focus in on his breathing. If he was still breathing, that meant he still had a chance of making it off this island alive.

“You should have told me,” Barbara said as he rounded the corner to walk in between booths that were made to sell food. The happy, cheerful signs felt entirely out of place in the dim lighting of the fair. Harley had built this place to look old and dilapidated; something out of American Horror Story. He shuddered. “I guess I knew,” she continued.

“No, you’re right. I should have discussed this with you.” He bowed his head as he knelt beside a booth to check his corners. “I just didn’t want you to worry.”

“I’ll always worry about you…”

He smiled despite the situation. “I know, and I’m sorry. This was supposed to be a mission about reeling in Red Hood, not… whatever this is.”

“Missions never go as planned,” Barbara said. He nodded even though she couldn’t see him. “How’s Nightwing?”

“I’m fine,” Dick groaned.

“Just as irritating as ever.” He paused as he came up to another crossroads. He scanned the area to find five of their hostages and ten armed guards wandering the area. He undid the harness keeping Dick up and placed him on the ground. “You wait here.”

Dick smiled. “I’ll try to stay out of your way.”

Tim patted him on the shoulder and then snuck away into the night. It was like settling into an old glove. The movements that he didn’t even realized he still knew came back to him like a child rekindling an old friendship. As he made for higher ground, he smiled slightly. It wasn’t that he enjoyed it, it just felt pretty good to be back in the saddle.

“You know, I thought we wouldn’t have to do this again after the Bat was blown to bits,” one of the men below grumbled.

“Harley said it’s just Robin and Nightwing. We can handle those two clowns.”

Robin scanned the area. There were hostages ducking behind one of the booths with a gunman standing next to them. He snuck along the electrical wires above.

“I take issue with you using the word ‘clown’ as an insult. And I’m sure she will, too.”

Robin shook his head and very carefully leapt down from the wires. He grabbed the man with the gun before he could react and blocked his airway until his struggles died down. He turned to look at the hostages. A man and a woman. They were young and clearly terrified and freezing. He lifted a finger to his lips and they nodded slowly. “Go that way,” he whispered, pointing to where Nightwing was. “Keep your head down and don’t make a sound.”

The couple nodded and hurried away in the direction indicated. He watched them go before getting back on the railing. Two down. He scanned the area again to find the other three hostages. They were again in a booth. Two were kneeling on the ground and the other was sitting above a Dunk Tank. A couple of the men were taking turns throwing balls at the target to knock the hostage in.

Robin scowled and moved silently, jumping onto one of the booths and balancing on the wooden supports. He leapt from the one he was on to the one directly across from the hostages. The man above the Dunk Tank spotted him and for a brief moment, Robin didn’t dare breathe. It wasn’t uncommon for hostages to get their would-be saviors killed by calling out or otherwise giving away their presence.

The man had sense, however, and dragged his eyes down to the tank below. Robin sighed and looked both ways. The other six men in the area were wandering away from the hostages, so he jumped onto the ground and hurried to the one gunman with the hostage. He quickly dispatched him, but told the hostages to stay put. The two men at the Dunk Tank were distracted by their game and Robin stepped forward to take them out, but the sound of a gun cocking made him freeze.

“Well, he did show up after all,” the woman with the gun laughed. He turned to see that he was staring down the barrel of an automatic rifle.

“You’ve got a clean shot,” he said. “Take it. Or did they not teach you to always take the shot?”

“If we wanted you dead, do you think you’d be here?”

Robin lifted his hands and stood slowly, nodding reassuringly at the hostages at his feet. “Alright, then, what _do_ you want? My cooperation? Let these people go! They’ve done nothing!”

“Where’s Nightwing?” she asked, dodging his questions like he dodged a bullet.

“He’s fine.”

“Didn’t look fine to me,” she sneered. “You messed up, Robin; got sloppy.”

“I’m a little rusty at this,” he said with a shrug. His heart was pounding. By that point, they had drawn the attention of the other mooks in the area and they had convened on his location. “What’s the punishment for messing up?”

“I’m so glad you asked.” She moved her weapon and before he could even turn his staff into the bullet shield, one of the hostages fell dead at his feet. He stared down at the warm body before turning to glare at the woman.

“These people are innocent!” he shouted. He grabbed the other hostage and put her behind him, putting his body between her and the guns.

“I know.”

He looked up at one of the billboards and winced. The whole city was watching.

“Batman wouldn’t have let any of the hostages die. You’re down one, bird brain,” Harley called over the loud speaker.

The gunwomen tossed a ball at Robin and he caught it. “Dunk that hostage and you and the last one go free.”

Robin narrowed his eyes and walked slowly to the throwing line. This was a fairly easy throw, so he wasn’t sure why this of all things was how they were going to decide if he got to walk away with two hostages or none, but he didn’t even hesitate to throw the ball at the target. It didn’t matter.

The ball hit the bull’s-eye and the man above the tank fell in. Before Robin could react, one of the mooks grabbed the man’s shoulder and held him under. Robin ran forward, extending his staff as he did. He put the staff into the ground and then vaulted over the tank, kicking the mook square in the jaw. Before anyone else could cause trouble, he grabbed the man and dragged him out of the tank. He had had enough of people drowning for one night.

The woman smiled at him. “Good. You’re proving to be interesting.”

“Who do you work for?” Robin snapped. “Harley? She’d hardly worth it.”

“I work for the Faceless,” she said with a shrug. “Though, you aren’t in any position to make demands.” She turned to address the other gunmen. “Alright men, move out!” They vanished into the night and Robin sighed.

“Come on,” he muttered to the two remaining. He ushered them onward, pausing just long enough to look at the dead man’s face. He didn’t want to forget it, because he knew Gotham wouldn’t either.


	5. Holding Out for a Hero

 

_Grand Island_  
_Prison Cells_  
 _11:17 pm_

The mixture of the music box and the laughter was enough to drive a sane man to the brink; but Jason wasn’t a sane man. Over a year of hearing similar things had driven him off a deep end that he wasn’t sure he could ever come back from. No one ever fully recovered from what he had been through. They just simulated normalcy until they couldn’t anymore; or until they died.

When he thought he might start shouting, the noise stopped and all he was left with were the laughs and screams that played in his head. He flinched ever so slightly when the door to his prison opened. Doe walked in with her head held high. She paused and turned to the camera in the corner, turning it off. The little red light vanished like he imagined his hope would. Without a word, she undid his arm restraints and he fell to the floor with a soft grunt.

She still didn’t speak as she forced him to his feet and moved her gloved hands over his armor. As gently as a mother with a child, she began removing the armor. He considered strangling her. It would be easy. His arms were free… but then what? He was shackled to the ground by his ankles and even she wasn’t stupid enough to bring the key in. Harley would walk in and find the mess, and then he was sure his head would be bashed in. No, it was better to wait it out. Morning would come soon enough.

After she had removed the suit, she reached up for the mask. His eyes shifted to the camera. It was still off. “Isn’t the point of dramatic face reveals to actually reveal the face to people?” he asked.

“Gotham doesn’t know Jason Todd from Adam,” she said as she undid the mechanisms holding the mask to his face. “It’s not like Bruce Wayne, who had a media presence even without the persona. No, you are merely…” she removed the hood and nodded. “Faceless.” She reached up her hand and cupped his cheek.

He recoiled. “I know those tricks,” he snapped. “Sandwich the torture in between gentle caresses.” He shuddered, remembering those times that he had tried so hard to block out. “I don’t think anyone would believe me when I say he could be gentle...”

“How long were you there? A year?”

“A little more,” he grumbled, looking at the ground. He put on an act to appear like it didn’t bother him, but talking about it brought back every moment of helplessness that he had endured; and he hated it.

“Hard, isn’t it? Remembering the pain you went through…” She reached to grab his arm, but he flinched back and swatted it away. As quick as a viper, she backhanded him, sending him sprawling onto the ground after tripping over the shackles. She was on top of him without a moment’s hesitation, holding down his wrists with inhuman strength. “Don’t play with me, Hood. You _will_ lose.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, but didn’t struggle. Nothing good came out of fighting. “You move like a meta-human.” She shrugged and got off of him. She yanked him to his feet and tied his arms back over his head. She reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a domino mask that would cover his nose and up, but would keep his eyes visible.

“Now, about faces,” she said as she put the mask on his own. “You don’t have an identity outside the Red Hood. No one cares about Jason Todd, so revealing your face wouldn’t be like revealing Bruce Wayne. He had a presence in the world. You don’t exist outside your persona. There’s no dramatic face reveal. You’re as faceless as the countless victims that die every day that no one hears about.”

“Am I going to die here?” Jason asked.

“That depends on how well your brothers do.”

He rolled his eyes. “If you wanted us to fail, why give us the chance to begin with? Wouldn’t it be easier and more effective to just execute us on your live television feed, instead of giving us the chance to succeed? Why bring innocents into your twisted revenge against masked vigilantes?”

She leaned away from him and he imagined her smiling, though he had no proof of that. “To prove a point.”

He scoffed. “What point? That there are no heroes? That’s a pretty pathetic and hollow message to send out. Have you been to Metropolis and Keystone? Wonder Woman, Superman, and The Flash, for heaven’s sake. You can’t claim there are no heroes because one didn’t show up to Gotham in time to save fifty people.”

She nodded. “There are heroes, yes… I can’t deny the world we live in where masked men and women come from the shadows to save innocent lives. The point I’m trying to prove is that, even in a world of heroes, _this_ is what happens to them; and if it happens to gods among men, then it will happen to men as well. That’s why I don’t want the world to know their names. I don’t care who hides under the mask of Robin, Nightwing, or Superman. Scarecrow didn’t kill Batman, he killed Bruce Wayne. I don’t want to bring you down to the level of mortal men. I want you to die with your face hidden. I want Red Hood to die without anyone knowing who the hell Jason Todd was!”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “A great speech, but to what avail? People won’t rally behind you. People will always have a sense of hope. There will always be another hero to step out of the shadows.”

Doe laughed. “You still believe in heroes? You know what it’s like to sit there and wait for days, months… waiting for _someone… anyone_ to save you. To have your hope dwindle to nothing, yet you still believe in heroes?”

“I don’t believe in heroes, I believe in people. People like me who will do what’s necessary to stop the scum like you.”

Doe pushed on his chest, straining his shoulders until they nearly popped out of socket. Jason winced, but didn’t show pain passed that. “You think you’re a hero? You gun men down in cold blood for petty crimes that you deem important. Like that last man you killed. He hadn’t been convicted of anything.”

“He was guilty of serial sexual assault, they just didn’t have enough evidence to pin it on him,” Jason snapped. “I’d hardly call that petty.”

Doe stroked his cheek and he recoiled back away from her touch. “Don’t you think I know that? Who do you think told you about that man?”

“Randy Dunn,” he said. “That was his name.”

She shrugged. “Does it matter? He’s just another faceless dirtbag lying dead in the streets. Why do you care what his name was?”

“What’s your name?” Jason asked. He had to keep her talking. As long as they were talking, they weren’t hurting you. “Or are you just another faceless dirtbag lying dead in the streets of Gotham?”

She patted his chest and pushed him a little; just enough to add pressure. “Just another faceless victim who waited too long for a hero.”

Jason smirked. “You do realize, out of the three men you kidnapped, you’re talking to the least likely to actually take sympathy on you, right?” Jason asked. This whole thing was falling on deaf ears. He knew that heroes were screw-ups who sometimes made mistakes and blundered their way through their mission, hoping _not_ to lose anyone, but knowing that it’s a forgone conclusion.

“I don’t want your sympathy,” she said. She leaned in closer and put her gloved hand on his bare chest. She traced her finger down one of the many scars there. “I want to hear you scream.”

“It’ll take a lot more than you can do to accomplish that,” Jason said. “I know pain. I know what it’s like to feel like there is no one in this world who cares. My whole world was pain.”

“For a year,” she said as she pulled away from him. “And only a year. Before that, you probably had a good life; or at least a better one than the one you lead now.” He shrugged. She backed away and then out of his sight before coming back with a crowbar in her hands. He winced and tensed. “Don’t worry… eventually, you’ll scream.” She slammed the weapon against his exposed side. “They _always_ do.”

_Grand Island: Arcade_  
_Hostages Saved: 4_  
 _Hostages Killed: 1_  
 _11:21 pm_

Tim picked up Dick and put him back on his back without a word. Dick was worried. Usually these breaks were accompanied by some sort of talking, but Tim was keeping his mouth shut as they walked with the four hostages behind them. “What happened?” he asked finally.

“I lost one,” Tim grumbled. Dick frowned. It was understandable that that would bother him, but the night was still young, and they couldn’t despair. He didn’t say as much, however. Tim didn’t want to hear it. Tim didn’t want to hear the truth of their situation; that sometimes you couldn’t save them all.

“I’m sorry…”

“Apologize one more time,” Tim snapped. Dick looked at the ground as they walked before turning to the four people trailing behind them. They weren’t keeping up as well and Tim wasn’t slowing down. He didn’t say anything about how Tim was going to burn out his energy before midnight. He closed his eyes and sighed. “Night?”

“I’m fine,” Dick muttered. Tim nodded slowly, but he slowed his stride so their four followers could keep up. No one spoke as they moved through the fairgrounds. It was like a funeral progression.

“Andrew.”

“What?” Tim asked, turning his head to the women who had spoken.

“His name… was Andrew Phillips,” she said, keeping her head down. Tim stiffened and Dick could just frown sadly.

“I’m sure he was a good man,” Tim said.

The woman laughed softly. It was a nervous, sad laugh that sounded like she was holding back tears. “He was a drunkard,” she whispered. She sounded so defeated. “But, I guess that doesn’t mean anything now.”

Dick didn’t know what to say. He wished that this was better for everyone. He wanted things to be better for everyone there. He couldn’t help but think that this was all his fault, but mentioning it would just send Tim over the edge. He had enough on his plate; enough guilt and regret. He didn’t need to carry Dick’s as well.

They kept going until they made it to a tent. Tim sighed and put Dick on the floor. “Alright Night, I’m going to go on.” He turned to the hostages. “Look… they probably won’t send anyone here for you, but if they do…” he paused, and Dick knew where this was going. “If they come, you guys run.” He looked at Nightwing. “Leave him here if you have to. Don’t try to run with him.”

Dick nodded. They wouldn’t kill him. They needed him alive to play their little game, even if he wasn’t able to actually play. “Don’t worry about me. They want us alive,” he said.

The woman who had spoken earlier nodded slowly and the four hostages all sat around Nightwing. He smiled at Tim, who could only grimace back at him before slipping into the night. Dick leaned against the pole holding the tent up and sighed. This was a mess. “Are you alright?” she asked.

Dick looked over at her and smiled. “I’m usually the one asking that question,” he said with a soft laugh. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just a broken leg.” _And… other complications,_ he thought. Heaven only knew how much damage swimming in the water had done. Gotham wasn’t known for its cleanliness.

“Kathleen,” she said.

“What?”

“My name is Kathleen.”

He looked at her and smiled softly. She was young; probably a university student in a graduate program based on her age. “Nightwing,” he introduced, though if the night kept going as is, he’d probably end up introducing himself as Richard Grayson by the end of it. “Sorry about all of this.”

She shrugged. “It’s not your fault, I suppose.”

“Are you kidding me?” one of the other hostages snapped. “It’s not their fault? If we didn’t have so many masked vigilantes running around, then we wouldn’t have so my super criminals coming up with increasingly more ridiculous schemes to stop them! This is 100% their fault!”

Dick frowned, but he didn’t argue the point. The man was scared and he wanted to lash out at someone. Having one of those masked vigilantes sitting next to him in such a weakened state was probably too good to pass up.

“Shut up,” Kathleen said. She turned to Dick. “My dad’s alive because of masked vigilantes.’ He smiled, but the other man merely shook his head in a defeatist move. “So, thank you.”

“All in a day’s work,” he said with a grin. He looked up at the top of the tent, trying to keep his head from swimming; but it was getting difficult. He hadn’t wanted to tell Tim how ill he felt and he definitely didn’t want the hostages to know the condition he was in. They saw that he was in pain, but they didn’t need to see how much pain he was in and how serious the injury might be. He didn’t even want to know how serious the injury was.

“So, what? We just wait here?” another one said.

“That’s the plan,” Dick said with a nod. “Sorry it’s not glamorous.”

“How do you two plan on getting us out of here?”

“I’m going to assume that once we’ve taken down Harley and her masked friend, we’ll be able to schedule an evacuation.” He closed his eyes. “How long have you been missing?” It wasn’t beyond the realm of reason that fifty people going missing wouldn’t raise too many red flags in Gotham.

“Two weeks,” Kathleen said.

“Yesterday,” the man who had spoken earlier answered. The other two hostages seemed a bit too shocked to say much of anything, but Dick didn’t blame them. They weren’t trained for this.

“So… they were scattering kidnappings so not to draw attention to themselves,” he deduced. It made sense, but that meant some of these hostages had probably been there for months and the thought made him shudder. Harley wasn’t messing around this time. She was hardly ever messing around, but this time it seemed more calculated than her usual attempts at taking them out.

“How is everyone doing, Nightwing?” Barbara asked. He put his hand to his ear and smiled. It was a miracle that these things still worked after their swim, but he figured Bruce had wanted all his tech waterproof.

“The leg’s a mess,” he said, “but I’m fine. The hostages are okay, too… Just a bit shell shocked. Robin…” He paused and shook his head. “ _We_ lost one.” This was as much his problem as it was Tim’s. “He’s a bit broken up about it.”

“I can hear you,” Tim snapped quietly. Dick smiled. It seemed that Tim hadn’t gotten to the circus tent yet, or else he wouldn’t be risking his cover by quipping about how stupid this conversation was. “Are you two done?”

“Tim…” Barbara whispered. Dick sighed, deciding to stay out of their ensuing argument. They didn’t need the added stress of relationship drama.

“I’m fine, Barb,” Tim snapped.

“Alright,” she said. This had to be hard on her. She had wanted a normal life right alongside Tim and now this one last wrench was being thrown into their relationship. “Night, what about you?”

“Like I said, I’m fine. Just a bit hungry is all.”

Barbara laughed, but Tim didn’t. He looked up at the roof of the tent, listening to the sleet hit it mercilessly. This didn’t make sense. They were in a weird television show-type game fighting not only for their lives, but for the lives of hostages who had nothing to do with it. Even if they died trying to save everyone, and even if they actually couldn’t save everyone, as they’ve already shown that they couldn’t, what did it prove? That people make mistakes? That heroes sometimes literally can’t save everyone? It was a stupid message that people already knew.

Everyone knew that no one is perfect, so what was the point of putting two heroes through the ringer for the whole city to see. Wouldn’t that just make people like them more? Not saving every hostage wouldn’t destroy their faith in heroes.

Just as that thought finished in his mind, the feedback rang throughout the island. “Hey, birdbrains!” Harley called. There was no monitor in the tent. He turned to Kathleen and held out his hands so she could help him to his one good leg. Leaning on her, they walked slowly outside. The others stayed where they were, probably thinking that this the small tent would offer some protection.

“Is that her?” Kathleen asked, pointing to the screen. Harley was there in what looked like a replica of Arkham Asylum.

Dick nodded slowly. Why would they make a replica of the Asylum on this island?

“We forgot to mention one more thing!” The camera panned to show Jason. He was tied up and shackled with his arms above his head. Harley’s masked friend was standing next to him with a crowbar. He had various new cuts and bruises on his body. “Recognize him?”

“Jason!” Dick gasped, lurching forward. He didn’t care about secret identities. “Robin, Jason’s alive!”

“I see that,” Robin muttered.

Dick looked up at the screen. Jason seemed to be holding himself together well enough, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he broke.

“Also,” Harley continued. She sounded so nonchalant even as the masked woman behind her began swinging at Jason’s exposed midsection. He let out muffled groans, but he didn’t cry out. “We forgot to tell you that we’ve got cops and firefighters here.” The camera panned down to show an officer on his knees, blindfolded and gagged. “You’ve got 13 of those to save.” She pulled the trigger and the camera lens was covered in blood, hair and other bits. “Well, I guess that’s twelve for you; not counting Red Hood over there.” She waved at the camera and laughed. “Good luck birdies!”

Dick closed his eyes as the screen flickered back to the live feed of the island. “Robin?”

“Don’t talk to me. Get inside and stay safe.” He snapped.

Dick turned to Kathleen and smiled. “Come on… We should go…” She nodded and helped him back inside where he got onto the ground and stared forward. This game wasn’t fair to begin with, but now he was afraid that it was impossible…


	6. In the Shadow of the Legends

_GCPD  
11:30 pm_

“Someone want to tell me why the entire populace just got a front row seat to an execution?” Jim shouted as he stormed into the Police Department. It had been against everyone’s suggestion. He wasn’t part of the force anymore and he had no business being there in person when the situation could be monitored from his office. He had ignored them. “I want all live feed from that island cut off from the citizens! They don’t need to see this.”

“Good to see you, too,” Cash said. “I just wish we could meet under better circumstances.”

Jim didn’t even bother with pleasantries. “Why haven’t you stopped the broadcast?”

“The citizens would riot,” he answered, crossing his arms. “They want to know what’s happening.”

“I don’t care; not when there are men getting shot on live TV. Cut the feed.”

“I’ll get Barbara right on that, then.”

Jim stiffened and narrowed his eyes. “What’s Barbara doing here? I thought she was on leave.”

“She was accidentally called in. I tried sending her home, but you know how she is.”

Jim nodded. “Yes, I do…” He started through the precinct, keeping his head high as he did. He didn’t care about the looks he was getting. They all knew he shouldn’t be here, but that seemed to be a theme that night; people being where they shouldn’t. He stepped into the control room and shut the door behind him. “What are you doing here?”

Barbara didn’t turn to look at him. “I should be asking you what the hell Robin is doing on that island! Did you have anything to do with this?”

Jim looked at the monitors as the live feed from the island played. None of the players were in view at the moment, but he didn’t want to think about what was happening there. “I brought in Nightwing,” he said. “I wanted to bring in Red Hood, but I told him to leave Robin out of it, I swear.”

Barbara turned to face her father. “You know he can’t stay away…”

“I know that, but I was hoping that Night would have more sense than to drag him back in. I’m sorry… it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.” He stared at the monitors and frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Are you in contact with them?” She nodded. “Good. How are things going?”

“Other than the police officer, they lost a second hostage,” she explained. “Four have been recovered so far and he’s working on the next batch in the circus tent.” She stared at the wall of monitors, clenching and unclenching her fists. “Night… he’s messed up pretty badly. His leg is broken and T-… Robin can’t do this alone.”

Jim pulled up a chair beside Barbara and put a hand on her arm. “Has… _he_ contacted you?”

Barbara shook her head. “If he was alive, he’d know better than to show his face here. He wouldn’t jeopardize the city for this.”

Jim nodded. He knew it was a long shot. They had no proof that Bruce was still alive, but he hadn’t given up hope. He smiled softly and rubbed her arm. “We’ll get them through this, Barb…”

“Dad…” She took off her headset and looked at him. Tears were welling in her eyes and guilt washed over him. He hadn’t meant for this to get this bad.

“It’s going to be okay…” But his words were petty compared to the situation. He couldn’t guarantee that. “Is Dick the only one injured?” he whispered. “What about the other hostages?”

“Robin said everyone is fine except for Night,” she said. She ran her hands over her pulled back hair, tugging at the ponytail roughly. “He won’t… they won’t survive like this.”

“Those two were trained by Batman,” Jim assured her. “I know you’re worried, but you have to understand that they were trained by the best. If anyone could survive this, it’s them.” He looked up at the monitor. One of them was showing the Arkham cell now. Jason’s bout of torture had ended for now. He closed his eyes, trying to block it all out. He had seen too many horrific things, but the kind of torture the kid was going through, no one deserved. “This city should be razed to the ground,” he muttered as he stood up. “I want you to cut the feed to the citizens of Gotham. They don’t need to see this.”

Barbara shook her head. “No. If they find out that we cut the feed, they might blow the island.”

“Barbara…”

“Dad,” she snapped, “They want the city to see this. They wouldn’t have set this up if they didn’t want everyone to see it. They’re trying to prove a point and if we prevent them from showing it, they may just decide to stop trying to prove it.”

“There are men being executed in front of a live audience, damn it! The people of this city don’t need to see that!” He pointed to Jason’s feed. “No one needs to see that!”

Barbara glared at him. “No one deserves any of this, but here we are!” she snapped. “I’m sorry, dad, but I won’t risk their lives to protect the feelings of these citizens. They can turn off their televisions if it bothers them so much. I want them off that island alive.”

Jim sighed and put his hand to his head as he turned away. “Go home, Barbara. I’ve got this.”

“Dad…”

“You are nine months pregnant and you don’t need this stress!” he said as he rounded on her. “I’ll take over here.”

Barbara stared up at her father, her eyes narrowed and her face stern. “No,” she said in a cold voice. “I won’t feel any better at home where I can only see and know what they want me to know. I’m staying here.” She turned back to the monitor and he made to argue, but stopped himself. She was as stubborn as a mule sometimes, but he figured she had gotten it from him.

“Okay,” he said, relenting. He sat back down in his chair as Barbara put her headset back on. Her eyes widened the second she had it on her head.

“What? Slow down! …What happened to Nightwing?”

_Grand Island: Circus Tent_  
_Hostages Saved: 4_  
 _Hostages Killed: 2_  
 _11:50 pm_

“He’s lost consciousness!” Kathleen gasped.

Tim bowed his head as he snuck on the tight rope about the circus floor. He couldn’t help but think that this particular room had been set up for Dick Grayson and not him. Circus music played through the speakers, but it was garbled. Sometimes it played normally and occasionally, the music went off key, or sped up or slowed down before snapping back to normal. It was extremely unsettling. He tried to remember his first aid training, but there wasn’t much he could do while he wasn’t there.

“I need you calm down,” Barbara said. She knew that if he talked, he’d jeopardize the mission; and that wasn’t an option. He scanned the room. Ten… they had ten hostages here, but they were smart. All ten were in a group in the center ring with ten armed men surrounding  them, alternating between looking at the hostages and looked out into the tent.

_They didn’t make this easy, did they…?_

“Get his leg elevated. Does he have a fever?”

“N-no…” Kathleen said, whimpering softly. Tim bowed his head for a second. They were playing with fire.

“Okay, it’s going to be okay. If he doesn’t have a fever, that’s fine. He just needs to rest.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but Tim didn’t harp on it. He kept his eyes focused on the task ahead. Last time he had been caught, a hostage was shot dead in front of him. He didn’t want to think that all these people would be killed if he screwed up.

He scanned the guards, trying to figure out how he was supposed to handle this. Everything was a puzzle. It was like they had gotten Nygma to help with these. The men were almost shoulder to shoulder and impossible to take out one by one without getting seen. He didn’t want to risk luring one away in fear that they would shoot the hostages if he tried that.

“I’m going to need you to calm down,” Barbara was saying. She was instructing Kathleen on what to do with Nightwing. “What’s your name?”

“Kathleen,” she said.

“Nice to meet you. Can you tell me about yourself?”

Tim smiled. It was a common tactic. If she was talking, she didn’t have time to panic. He wasn’t even sure they were worried about Nightwing. Even in his weakened state, he, being conscious, was a beacon of hope for them. If he was passed out on the floor, that meant that their hope was also passed out on the floor. He was the voice of reason, the person who knew how to handle this, and he wasn’t alert to talk them through it. They were the professionals, after all.

“I… I’m a med student at Gotham U…” Kathleen said through soft whimpers.

Tim looked down at the group of people, counting them. Five males, five females; five adults and five children. He narrowed his eyes angrily. They had brought _kids_ into this sick game? He turned his attention back to Barbara’s conversation for a moment. So, Kat was a med student? Which meant she probably knew what to do with Nightwing, but she was just too panicked to remember any of her studies. He trusted Barbara to get her focused again and then tuned out the conversation. He was sure that Nightwing was fine, and if he wasn’t, there was nothing he could do about it at that moment.

He didn’t see a way in. They had done everything here near perfectly and he wasn’t sure what the solution was. “Ten hostages, ten guards…” he whispered. “Five facing in, five facing out…” Everything was an even split, except for the adult to child ratio per gender. “What game are you playing…?” _This was made for two people,_ he thought. Everything was set up perfectly to be even. They had wanted him and Nightwing to face these challenges together. Dick’s injury hadn’t been part of their equation, and they weren’t adjusting for it.

“So, how would we beat this one together?” he whispered. The answer was simple enough. One would jump into the center of the group and the other would take the men standing with their backs to the center. They had to do it quickly and without giving someone the chance to fire a single shot. Five each was simple. Ten was hard, but not impossible.

He turned to the speakers, catching the tune. After a moment, he began whistling the tune as he crossed the tightrope over the hostages. A minute in, one of the children must have noticed the whistling because she looked up. He smiled at the girl and she gave an almost unnoticeable wave. He put his finger to his mouth and she nodded slowly. He pointed to the woman kneeling beside the girl and she turned to tap the woman on shoulder. She looked up. Once she caught sight of Robin, she froze. He waved before motioning silently for her to get down when he shouted. She nodded, and he watched as the word of him being there spread amongst the group. Luckily, they were discreet.

He bit his lip. This was a stupid idea. Someone was going to get hurt, he just hoped that that someone would be him. He pulled the collapsed staff out of the belt and held onto it. He whistled softly and held up his hand, signaling five… four… three… two… “Everybody down!” he shouted and before the gunmen could react, he leapt into the center.

The staff landed before he did. He swung on the weapon, kicking at the men in the circle, pushing them away from the hostages. He balanced on the staff for a moment before tackling one of the men to the ground. The others were in a panic. They clearly hadn’t expected him to attack so openly. He jumped off the man he had just incapacitated, going after another man. He grabbed the gun and ripped it from his hands as he sent a shuriken at another. He swung the assault rifle at on man while dodging another and taking the staff in his hands to throw the man away. Luckily, it seemed these men weren’t smart enough to do the smart thing and shoot the hostages.

Until the last man stood and aimed his rifle; not at Robin, but at the young, brave girl who had first spotted him. Robin gasped and ran forward, but he wasn’t going to make it in time. He opened the bullet shield on the staff and hurled it forward. It landed upright in the sandy floor between the girl and the man just as he pulled the trigger and unleashed several bullets onto the shield.

He tackled the last man to the ground and punched him hard… and then he punched him again… and again. Already the night was wearing him thin. He slammed his fist into the man’s face and turned to the hostages, panting angrily. “Let’s go.” He stood. “Oracle? Ten more safe.” He lowered his voice. “I’ve got children here,” he hissed angrily. “These monsters _kidnapped children!”_

“Robin…” Barbara whimpered. He froze where he was.

“What happened?”

“Nightwing developed a fever…”

Tim closed his eyes. “Is that bad?” He knew it was, but he wanted her to explain it to him. He wanted her to tell him how Dick’s state was worsening by the minute.

“Not yet,” Barbara said, “but it can be.”

“Okay,” Tim said. “Look, I’ve got children on this island now. I’m going to try and negotiate their release here.”

Barbara sighed and he heard the annoyance in her voice. “I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“Why not?”

“Because they might just kill you for your troubles!”

Tim closed his eyes. He understood her concern, but their lives had never meant more than the lives of their hostages. He didn’t argue, though. She had a point. Harley and her little friend, the Faceless, probably wouldn’t like the fact that he was trying to get some people off this island. “Okay, I won’t. But I swear, I will beat both of them to a pulp when I find them.” He turned to the hostages. “This way, please, before these men wake up.”

He turned and started for the entrance to the tent. “Why didn’t you just kill them?” a man asked.

Tim frowned. “We don’t kill,” he said.

“Maybe you should.”

He smiled sadly. It was a philosophy that did deserve some amount of scrutiny. Thou shalt not kill often fell into “thou shalt not kill even in self-defense.” This would be a lot easier if he just had a gun and killed these men. “Look, I know you’re scared…” he tried, but was cut off.

“I ain’t scared, I’m pissed off!” the man snapped. “I haven’t seen my family in six weeks all for some sick game these ladies want to play with you! What are you going to do about it?”

“Right now, I’m trying to get everyone off of this island alive,” Tim said in a cold, monotone voice.

“And that includes launching a frontal attack while there are children facing a firing squad?” One of the women said. He voice was shrill and terrified. He couldn’t help but wonder if Batman had ever dealt with such ungrateful hostages. “Where have you been, anyway?”

“What?”

“There are people on this island who have been hostages for over eight months,” she explained. “I’m one of them! Where was the great Robin to stop the kidnapping of fifty innocent people?”

_Ma’am, it’s Gotham. If this city went haywire every time someone went missing, we’d never sleep,_ Tim thought, but he kept his mouth shut; like he wished the hostages would. He didn’t need this. He was risking his life to save a bunch of ungrateful people.

“Where were you?” she asked again, her voice breaking.

_I was trying to have a life,_ Tim answered silently. Out loud, he just sighed and said “I was busy. There are a lot of missing persons cases to comb through.”

“Batman would have stopped it,” another one said.

Tim clenched his fist. “Bruce is dead!” he snapped. “And I’m sorry he’s not here…” He hadn’t meant to get defensive with them. They were just scared, frustrated and angry, and he couldn’t blame them. He had nearly beaten the gunman to death, and would have if he hadn’t stopped himself. He couldn’t blame them for handling the stress of this situation worse than he was.

“Th-thank you…”

“What?” Tim asked, turning to see who had spoken. The little girl who had almost taken a bullet was beside him now.

“Thank you,” she said again. She grabbed his hand and walked with her head held high beside him. He stared down at her for a moment before smiling softly and looking forward. “Do you know Batgirl?” she asked.

“Yes, I do,” he answered with a small laugh. It was a terrible situation, but he could find some comfort in this.

“I miss her…! You and she saved the mayor!”

“That we did. He was the commissioner back then, though,” Tim said with a laugh. It was a bitter memory now. So much had changed since that day, but he still relished in it. Harley clearly had taken a few beats from that night in setting this game up. He just wished that, like last time, he wasn’t alone in the endeavor.

“Will she ever come back?” The girl asked.

Tim kept his eyes forward and didn’t speak for a moment. He didn’t want to inspire people. He wouldn’t wish this life on anyone. He didn’t want kids looking up to him like he had looked up to Batman because that meant that one day, there would just be another Robin… Then there would be another person who realized their mistake in getting wrapped up in this life.

Tim didn’t feel like he _regretted_ his choice for joining, but a part of him wished he hadn’t. “Maybe one day,” he told the girl. She squeezed his hand tightly. “What’s your name?”

“Harper.”

“Nice to meet you, Harper.” He turned back to the group as they walked. They seemed mildly ashamed of themselves after giving him such a hard time, but he didn’t hold it against them. This wasn’t their fault. It wasn’t _his_ fault and it wasn’t Dick’s fault. The only people at fault were Harley and her masked friend. “Don’t worry, kid… We’ll get out of this,” he whispered, and he wasn’t sure if he was talking to Harper… or to Robin.


	7. Pushed From the Nest

Chapter Seven: Pushed from the Nest

_Grand Island: Circus Tent_  
_Hostages Saved: 14_  
 _Hostages Killed: 2_  
 _12:12 am_

Tim opened the flap to the sideshow tent where he had left the rest of the hostages. Harper squeezed his hand tightly for a heartbeat before hurrying inside and out of the freezing rain. Tim stayed back as the others filed in. The rain felt like his punishment. He hardly even felt the chill in the air and he wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. The others had managed to get a fire going and he was loathed to move them, but he didn’t know how this game was meant to be played when it came to depositing the rescued hostages. Four was fine to walk around with, but fourteen, with five children, was going to be more difficult.

“Come in before you catch your death,” Dick called weakly from where he was propped up against the support pole for the tent. “Only one of us is allowed to have a fever at a time, and I call dibs.”

“Well, at least your sense of humor is as crappy as ever,” Tim said as he stepped inside. The warmth hit him like a brick. His legs felt weak, but he didn’t sit. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

Tim knew it was a lie. He didn’t sound fine. He sounded like he was in pain and was struggling to stay awake, but Tim didn’t have the energy to call him out on it. Instead, he knelt beside Dick and placed his hand on his forehead. “You’ve got a fever,” he said bluntly. It wasn’t bad, but Dick was weak and a small fever could turn into a big problem very quickly.

“The water wasn’t very clean.”

“Now’s not the time for jokes. Where’s your commlink?” He pointed to Kathleen. She was sitting on her knees a few feet away, checking on the children that Tim had brought with him.

“That wasn’t a joke,” Dick said.

“I know.” He looked at Kathleen and sighed. It wasn’t right to bring someone else into their mission control. “I’d rather you get it back from here, but if you’re going to be fading in and out of unconsciousness, then I need to be able to keep track of the situation here. She can keep it for now.”

Tim went to stand, but Dick reached out and grabbed his arm. “Robin,” he hissed.

Tim hissed under his breath. Dick wasn’t going to let this die, was he? “We’re not going through this again, and if you bring it up, I’ll just knock you out so you can shut up about it. I _am_ getting you off this island.”

Dick stared at him with guilt and pain in his eyes. “ _You_ are exhausted.”

“It’s too early in the night to be exhausted,” Tim said as he stood. “There are too many lives at risk for me to be exhausted.”

“You’re not him…”

“ _I know that!”_ Tim shouted, wheeling on Dick. Everyone in the room froze at the outburst. It was too early… too early to be this agitated, but he was supposed to be in Bludhaven. He was supposed to be sleeping in a hotel room without worrying whether or not he’d be alive to see the sunrise. He had a kid on the way… He wasn’t supposed to be playing Batman. He wasn’t supposed to be on this island. He wasn’t supposed to be staring down at Nightwing contemplating on if he should kick him or leave him for dead. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, noticing that the hostages were staring at him with fear in their eyes. It was too early for him to lose his cool. These people needed a strong pillar of hope, not a man in over his head.

He turned to address the group of people. Fourteen… “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. This is a good place for you all to rest up, okay? I’m going to go get the next batch of hostages while you wait here.” It was the best option. He couldn’t be expected to lead this group of people like a shepherd leading sheep. It was too dangerous and too distracting.

But he didn’t feel right just leaving them. Dick couldn’t keep them safe if Harley and Faceless decided to get involved and put him back to square one. He looked at his hands and sighed. “Good luck,” Dick said as Tim walked to the entrance of the tent. His hand hovered there for a moment. Inside the tent was warm and safe… Outside was cold, wet and dangerous. He shook his head and pushed through the flap. “What I fool I am,” he said to the sky.

“Not a fool, just brave,” Barbara said.

Tim smiled despite the situation. He didn’t feel brave… he felt obligated. “I’m heading to the Ferris wheel.”

“You’ve got ten hostages in there,” she said.

“Thanks.” He ran forward and used his grappling hook to get to the top of some of the buildings and stalls. He paused for a moment once he was up. The rain was blocking his view, making the area seem to glow in a colorful and unnatural light that made it all very eerie. He shook his head, trying not to think about it. This was a test and it was one he was going to make sure he passed.

As he made his way to the Ferris wheel, he looked around at his surroundings. The wheel was placed on top of a cliff overlooking to choppy waters below. He imagined that it was be a thrill seeker’s dream to get on such a precariously placed ride. “Joker would be proud of your floor plan, Harley” Tim said quietly to no one in particular. If Barbara or Kathleen had heard him, neither one spoke. He walked along the poles holding the tents up and kept his head down as he moved carefully through the area. Harley didn’t have men patrolling the walkways; probably to make it easier for him to get to the main attractions of this mission.

As he neared the Ferris wheel, it began rotating slowly. He narrowed his eyes. Of course, a lot of the stealth attempts were thwarted by the sheer amount of surveillance Harley had placed on this island. Luckily, most of the cameras didn’t have audio, though he figured Harley and her accomplish probably were wearing microphones to make sure people heard their encounters. He approached the wheel, but froze when he saw a single person standing between him and the ten hostages on the ride. So, they weren’t guarding this one nearly as well… That was suspicious.

“Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel,” Robin called, keeping a fair distance between them. “I gotta hand it to you, this is a rather elaborate plan for you to set up without the help of Joker or one of his infected buddies.” She didn’t speak. Instead, she put her large hammer onto her shoulder and walked towards him. He stared forward, but his mouth twitched. When did she get so emboldened? Sure, she never really had a sense of self preservation, but as far as she was concerned, she was alone in this world. “Tell me; are you _really_ doing this to lure Batman out of hiding, or is this some elaborate sense of revenge?”

She stopped and let the hammer head drop to the ground. It made a loud _thud_ when it hit and he couldn’t help but think that it sounded too loud.

“This is about what happened at the film studios, isn’t it?” He forced a grin and a laugh. Harley liked laughing. “Come on, Harley… can’t we just let bygones be bygones? They’ve got a nice padded cell for you back at the new Arkham facility.”

“You left me in that cell for three weeks!” Harley shouted.

Robin shrugged. “I left you with water and a bedpan,” he defended, trying to feign sheepishness. “I was busy…”

“Well, now you’re gonna get what’s comin’ to ya, birdbrain!” She walked forward until they were only a few feet apart. “You want these hostages, Robin? You’re gonna have to go through _me!”_

This time, Robin’s chuckle wasn’t forced. “Really? You want to fight me? In one on one combat?”

“I beat Nightwing, didn’t I?”

Robin pulled out and extended the bo staff. “As I recall, you fended off Nightwing and dodged his attacks before Ivy bailed you out.”

She laughed and pointed the hammer at him. He was close enough to reach out and touch it. “Oh, is that how he tells it?”

“Given the fact that he’s still alive, I’m assuming that he wasn’t lying.”

She laughed. “How is your little broken Wing, Robin?”

Robin’s lip steeled, and he stared her down, narrowing his eyes. He didn’t like that she knew that Dick was injured and hurting. “There is nothing between him and you.”

Harley smiled and put the hammer on the ground, leaning on it. “You think you’re the only one of Brucie’s children to smack me up a little?”

Robin also put his staff on the ground and stared at her. She had cleaned up since the last time he had seen her, dragging her away to the GCPD after taking her out of that cell. She still had the clown motif, but her hair hung down without being tied in her signature ponytails. It made her look more mature, he had to give her that. “I resent that remark.”

“What, calling you a child or saying you smacked me up?”

“Calling me Bruce’s kid… and even hearing that name come out of your mouth.” He stepped forward, but she moved quickly to throw her hammer up to stop him. “It’s unsettling when you call him that.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to make the little Robin unsettled.”

Robin took a step back, putting one of his hands up. “Harley, what is this about? Why bring fifty innocent people into our little game? This isn’t like the time your little boyfriend shot Barbara Gordon… These people have no connection to anyone you hate, or he hated…”

“This is Gotham, sweetie, ain’t no one innocent here.” She steadied herself into a fighting stance. “Come on, Robin. I want to play with you before you go on saving the people in the Ferris Wheel.”

He smiled and flexed his shoulders, twirling the staff. He was going to enjoy this. Harley would pay for the men that had already died. He ran at her, letting his anger get the best of him by make the first move. He wanted to end this.

Just as they neared each other, Robin used the staff to vault over her. As he landed one foot on the ground, he kicked off back towards Harley and slammed his other foot into her back pitching her forward.

She swung around, and her hammer connected with his stomach. He stumbled back and gasped as the air was pushed from his lungs, but he recovered quickly. He grabbed the hammer’s head and shoved the end into her chest. She stumbled back. With strength he didn’t know she had, she ripped the hammer from his grip and then turned and ran. Robin tore after her. She may have improved over the past couple of years, but he was still faster and he quickly tackled her to the ground.

Harley moved faster than he was anticipating, and she slammed him in the head with the hammer. Luckily, she didn’t have leverage to crush his skull, but that didn’t stop his ears from ringing. He rolled with the impact and landed on his back. “Who taught you how to fight?” he asked. “I know Joker wouldn’t risk teaching you good moves like that.” He put his hand to his head and pulled it away to see the blood. “Damn…”

Harley came at him, swinging mildly. Robin rolled and then jumped onto his feet and back and swung his own weapon, parrying the hammer. Her swings were harder than he remembered and he wasn’t sure if that was because she had gotten stronger or if he had gotten weaker. He blocked a swing to the top of his head with the staff and held it there. “Not bad, Harley,” he said. “Two years, huh? Been good to you.”

“Don’t flatter me, Robin.”

He kicked her away from him. “Not flattery, just banter.” He stood straighter. “Come on, Harley, what’s this about? This cant just be about Bruce.”

Harley shrugged. “Some woman approached me after I escaped New Arkham; said she had a plan and needed my help and expertise on you and your little crew. She had big plans, I guess.”

“Kidnapping people… doing this… For what? To lure Bruce out of hiding? And then what?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she asked with a laugh. Robin refrained from humoring that with a response. Instead, he ran at her again and swung the staff, striking her against the head. She fell to the ground and he held her down with the staff to her throat. 

“It takes a lot more than that to beat a man trained by Batman.” He lifted the staff and started for the Ferris Wheel. “Good job, though. You’ve gotten better at hand to hand combat. I’m actually a little—” He didn’t have a chance to finish the sentence. Just as he took a few steps forward, the Ferris Wheel exploded. His eyes widened as the structure burst into flames; each gondola exploded in spectacular fashion. Her heard the people inside screaming in terror. For a moment, he froze, and then he ran towards the ride. He could get them out! But before he could get too close, the support beams for the wheel also exploded, sending the entire ride over the cliff and into the water below. He put up his hands to block the flying shrapnel, but the shock wave and heat sent him sprawling to the ground. His ears were ringing as he sat up to stare at the carnage.

Robin could only watch in horror as the ten lives he had been tasked with saving vanished into the choppy waters below in a heartbeat. He stood slowly and turned back to Harley. She was standing there with a trigger, smiling. “Do you think I play fair?”

Robin’s body began shaking. His hands were itching. “You…you _killed_ them!”

“I did,” she said with a shrug.

Something in him snapped. These people didn’t deserve this! They didn’t deserve to be ripped from their homes and forced to be bait in some sick and twisted game. He ran at her and tackled her to the ground. “You killed them!” he shouted again. And then he started punching… “Innocent lives, Harley! They didn’t need to die!” He couldn’t stop. This wasn’t a fair game. Of course it wasn’t. It was Harley. Why did he think she’d play fair?

Suddenly, punching was enough. He pulled out a shuriken and held it over her. “I oughta kill you, you son of bitch!” he shouted. His voice was as shaky as his hands.

“Yes, you should.”

Tim froze and lifted his gaze slowly to whoever had spoken. The white masked women from the video feed was standing a little ways off, watching them.

“Why don’t you kill her, Robin?” she asked.

“Hey, Doe!” Harley greeted. Her nonchalant attitude only worked to fuel his anger further. How could she be so calm? He looked down at her bloodied face. He had punched her hard and he’d be surprised if her cheek bone wasn’t fractured.

“I know you want to,” Doe continued, ignoring Harley in a way that he wished he could. “There were children on that ride.”

Robin narrowed his eyes at Harley. Kids were never in their wheelhouse before. Joker wasn’t above kidnapping children; Jason Todd was exhibit one, but they usually weren’t used as live bait like this. She was escalating. Prison would eat her alive for this. “Is that true?” he asked, even though he didn’t want to know the answer.

Harley laughed. It was a sickening thing; to be laughing in this situation. “Of course it is, birdbrain!”

Tim stared down at her and suddenly everything he had ever been told vanished. To hell with Batman’s no-kill policy! He wanted her dead. She had killed children in the name of what? Some sick game? To prove some point? “Why are you doing this?” he shouted. Doe walked towards them and Tim put the blade to Harley’s throat. “Come any closer and I _will_ kill her!”

“Do you honestly think I care about her?” Doe asked with a chilling giggle. “Do it, Robin…” she hissed. “Slit her throat. Avenge those kids… Everyone here. You know Nightwing’s not going to make it off this island. He’s dying as we speak. Don’t you want someone to pay for this?” She came in closer. “Do it…”

Tim wanted to. He wanted to do what Bruce refused to. Had someone just killed the lot of them, none of this would be happening! Those kids would still be alive. He’d be sleeping in a terrible Bludhaven hotel and the only thing he’d have to worry about would be if his students were going to win their contest. If someone would have just split their throats…

“Why are you doing this?” Robin asked again, calmer this time. He pulled the blade from Harley’s throat. Tonight wasn’t going to make a killer out of him. He wouldn’t be dragged down to their level. He turned to Doe. “To what end?”

“To _this_ end,” Doe said, pointing to him on his knees with Harley’s blood on his hands and ten victims he had been unable to save. “To put heroes on their knees.”

He stood and wiped the blood from his face. “You two… I swear on whatever grave you want me to that when this is over, I will _break_ you.”

“Why not do it now?” Doe asked, helping Harley to her feet.

He pointed at them. “Because there are more people to save on this island.” He turned away from them and walked towards the remains of the Ferris wheel. When he got to the wreckage, he stared down at the water below. The ride had vanished into the water. Ten lives that he hadn’t been quick enough to save. It didn’t matter to him that the game was rigged. He wasn’t _supposed_ to win. He was only supposed to fail. As he stared down at the waters below; the mass grave of his own making, he felt the sudden urge to take a few steps forward; to plummet to his death just as they had. He clenched his fists and pushed down the urge. But he didn’t bury it too deep.

He flinched when Doe came up beside him, but he didn’t acknowledge her presence past that. “Don’t worry Robin…” she said quietly. Her tone was almost motherly, as if she were trying to comfort her son after missing the winning goal of a soccer game. He wanted to push her off the edge, but he couldn’t. “By the end of the night, you _will_ have blood on your hands.”

_Bludhaven  
1:01 am_

He stood, watching the TV as Robin walked away from the cliff, leaving that terrible woman Harley had called “Doe” to stand and survey the scene alone. Robin walked passed Harley without even flinching and then he was gone from the frame. It had been a disturbing scene. They were going to break them. The Robins wouldn’t make it out of there… either they’d be killed or they’d lose whatever humanity they had left intact. He knew what would happen if they couldn’t get out of there. They’d be forced to compromise everything.

He shook his head and started for the door. He had to put a stop to this. He moved about the apartment as silent as he could, gathering supplies. Once he had changed his night clothes for a black long sleeved shirt and pants. He hurried to the door with the bag of gear and reached for the doorknob.

“If you go out there, they might die, Master Bruce…”

Bruce winces silently and stared at the door. “If I don’t go, they _will_ die,” he said, turning to Alfred. “I can’t…”

“Watch them suffer?”

He nodded. “I failed Jason once; I will never fail them again.”

Alfred stepped forward and put his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “If you go out there, you will be destroying everything we’ve worked for in keeping them all safe. This is what they want, and there’s no guarantee that Harley and this other woman won’t blow that island to hell the moment you show your face.”

Bruce frowned. He knew that going out there was a risk, and he knew Alfred was right, but he couldn’t just stay. “You want me to sit back while Tim and Dick and Jason are fighting for their lives?”

“They aren’t children anymore,” Alfred reasoned. “Think of your own family, Bruce, I implore you.”

Bruce pointed to the television. “They are my family. _Our_ family.”

Alfred nodded. “I understand, but you have others that can’t defend themselves now. If the world knows you’re alive, the enemies you have made will stop at nothing until you and everyone you’ve ever cared about are dead.”

Bruce looked away. “I… I can’t leave them to die, Al,” he said.

“They were trained by the best, Master Bruce. This is their trial.”

Bruce clenched his fists. It was against everything he had ever stood for. He had always dived head first into battles to help those who couldn’t help themselves. He had never cared if he didn’t make it out alive, but this time… this time Alfred wanted him to sit it out. He wanted him to stay away from the fight… and the worst part was that Bruce knew that he was right. He had more to protect now and Tim could handle this…

But… could he? “Tim may be good, but he’s not…”

“Batman?” Alfred asked. Bruce nodded. “What would Batman have done in that situation, Master Bruce?”

He knew what he would have wanted to do. Ten people senselessly murdered to prove some sort of stupid point. A point that no one even cared to take. “He would have continued playing,” he said.

“Then let Tim continue playing.”

Bruce looked at the TV monitor, watching Doe walk away from the wreckage. He looked at Alfred and went to speak but the sound of an infant cooing in the other room moved his attention.

Alfred smiled warmly. “Tim will be able to handle it, sir…”

Bruce nodded and started for the other room. “I don’t like it…” he said without looking back.

“I know, sir.”


	8. Not the Fall That Kills You

Chapter Eight: Not the Fall that Kills You

_Grand Island_  
_Prison Cells_  
 _1:15 am_

Laughter, grunting and pain were the only thing that registered in Jason’s mind as the men in the room took turns beating him like a boxer’s punching bag. He tried to find a place inside his mind to retreat, but even Joker hadn’t been so brutal. No, Joker’s torture had been slow and meticulous. He hadn’t wanted to break Jason’s body; he had wanted to break his mind. Doe and Harley didn’t have the luxury of time.

There was no safe place in his mind. Each punch felt like a brick, but he still didn’t make a sound for them. The beating wouldn’t stop if he screamed. They would laugh and beat him harder. Giving them what they wanted wouldn’t stop the behavior; it would only reinforce it.

“That’s enough, boys,” Harley called as she walked in. Doe followed silently behind her. The men expressed their disappointment as they backed away. “How you doin’, Jason?” she asked. He spat blood in her face, but that only made her laugh. “You think I can’t hurt you, Robin?”

“Not like he could,” Jason snapped.

“And oh how he hurt you,” Harley teased. “I watched him beat you… talk to you… tear you down just to be built back in his image.” She swung his hammer at his side and he felt a rib crack. “It was beautiful! You were his best work!”

“Rot in hell,” Jason said, straining to speak with so much pain holding him back.

“Okay.” She swung again, impacting his stomach. An almost inaudible squeak came from his throat, but he bit back anything louder. “I remember that you tried acting brave back then as well. He had to take his time with you… slowly break you down.” She slapped him hard on the face. “I don’t have time to deal with you, birdie!” She swung again and again, on his back, his side, his legs and stomach.

“Enough,” Doe said just as Harley was pulled back for another swing. “He won’t scream with blunt force. Let me have a go at him.”

By that point, Jason was wishing that he could just pass out, but he knew they wouldn’t let him. Doe walked to him and unhooked his arms from the ceiling shackles without letting his arms go free. He crumbled to the ground with a soft squeak of pain. “Are you going to kick me?” he asked.

Doe knelt beside him and stroked his face. The movement was gentle and for a moment, that was all he wanted. After hours of being pummeled by those men, a touch of kindness was not only welcomed, it was hypnotic. He didn’t care where it was coming from.

The moment passed, however, and he pulled away from her touch, but she didn’t seem bothered. “Shh… There’s no need for that,” she whispered. He opened his mouth to speak, but Harley’s beating had left him without the will to push the words out. “Harley, would you be so kind as to get me a rag? I want to clean his wounds.” Harley vanished and then came back with a bucket and a clean rag.

Doe hummed softly as she started cleaning the cuts and bruises on his body. Her touch was soft and kind, and he tried to ignore it the best her could. Pain was easy to handle. It was easy to hate the person beating you to death. It was harder to hate a person who you know is evil while they were cleaning your wounds and treating you like a sick puppy. “You can tell me what he was like if you want,” she said.

“Nothing to tell,” Jason muttered. He didn’t want to live it again. “The man was a monster.”

“You were going to kill him, weren’t you?”

“Bruce wouldn’t.” He didn’t know why he was talking. Maybe it was his training. Keep them talking until someone came to save you. That’s what Bruce taught him.

“Everything would be so much simpler if heroes killed their villains,” Doe agreed.

“Yeah…” Jason closed his eyes, but she patted his cheek to jolt him awake. He didn’t know how long he was there with her cleaning his body, but eventually she helped him to his feet. He stumbled slightly, and didn’t fight as she put his arms back over his head.

“Get him water.”

Harley obliged and Doe poured the water into his mouth. He drank it greedily, relishing in the fact that his throat was now moistened. He coughed and spat a mixture of blood and water. “Why…?” he croaked. He didn’t need to ask. He had asked Joker a thousand times “why.” Why was he being nice? Why was he doing this? Why wasn’t he beating him today? Why did he leave him in isolation for a week?

“I told you,” Doe whispered. Her voice was no longer soothing. It was chilling. “I’d make you scream.” She grabbed his chin with a now ungloved hand and squeezed. His eyes widened as pain erupted from where her skin made contact with his. She pulled her hand back from his face but before he could question what had happened, she put a hand on his chest.

Suddenly, it felt like his skin was dying. Pain radiated from the area where she touched him. He began panting and thrashing, but that only served to aggravate the injuries he had already sustained. She dug her nails into his flesh and he was shocked by how quickly the skin gave way under her touch. Panic overtook him long before the pain did. He didn’t know _what_ was happening. He could handle beatings and other forms of torture, but this was a different kind of pain; one he had never felt.

As she dug her fingers into his chest, he unleashed an unearthly howl of fear and pain.

_Grand Island: Ferris Wheel_  
_Hostages Saved: 14_  
 _Hostages Killed:12_  
 _1:15 am_

Tim didn’t want to go back to the tent. He’d be coming back empty handed. Doe and Harley had vanished into the night, and he walked slowly towards the circus tent. He knew that Dick would judge him, but the other hostages… and Gotham… They would never forget this. He looked up at one of the cameras as he walked by. They didn’t need to see this. They didn’t need to see a hero fall so low.

He took a shuriken and hurled it at the camera, watching it spark. Would he be punished for that? Did it matter?

“Robin…? Talk to me…” Barbara begged him. Tim shook his head, even though he had destroyed the camera that had been pointing at him. He didn’t want to talk. Someone else other than Dick was on the comms and he couldn’t even face what had happened. “Robin… please…” He reached up and turned off the link. It could have been a mistake, but he couldn’t handle it.

“You’re losing it, Tim,” he whispered to himself. He wandered through the booths, making his way back to the circus tent. “What would Batman do?” he asked to the sky. _Probably not forget about the mission,_ Robin answered. Tim rolled his eyes and walked faster. He needed to move on. He could mourn the dead when this was all over. All that mattered was helping the living, but he couldn’t muster up the courage. He kept playing it over in his head. What if he hadn’t toyed with Harley? Would they still be alive? What if he had been faster, fought harder or just done _something_ differently…? Then those people wouldn’t have been killed.

_You can’t prove that…_ he tried to reason. Of course he couldn’t prove it, but it didn’t stop him from wondering “what if…?”

He wasn’t sure how long he wandered, but eventually he found himself at the circus tent where he had left the group. He sighed and stood up straighter, but before he could step inside, blood curdling screams came from the loud speakers. He whipped around to the billboard monitor. Jason was there, howling and thrashing against his restraints. But the weird part was that it didn’t look like anyone was hurting him. Doe was standing there, but she wasn’t moving. What did catch his attention was that when she removed her hand from Jason’s chest, the area where she had touched was black.

Jason fell against his restraints, gasping for air with a terrible wheezing sound. The flap to the tent tore opened and Dick stumbled out. “Night, get back in there!” Tim snapped. The last thing he needed was Dick getting worse. But as he turned to Dick, he realized how pale the man was becoming; except for his cheeks. His cheeks were flushed red with fever. Tim took one last look at Jason before hurrying to Dick and placing his hand on his cheek. “God, you’re burning up.”

“I’m fine…” he snapped, but his voice was weaker. The fever was getting worse faster than it should. The cold, lack of sleep and stress seemed to have accelerated the illness.

“You’re not fine.” Tim said. He turned on the commlink as he put Dick’s arm over his shoulder. “Oracle…”

“Don’t you _ever_ hang up on me again, Robin!” Barbara snapped in a mix of anger and worry. Her voice was shaking. Apparently she too had seen Jason’s torture. Tim didn’t have time to think about that.

“I’m sorry,” he said, but it was dismissive. He wasn’t sorry because at that moment, it didn’t matter. He didn’t have time to be sorry. He helped Dick into the tent. “Night’s getting worse.”

Barbara took a sharp intake of air in the form of a low hiss. “How bad?”

“His fever is rising.” Tim rested the man on the ground and looked at the bandages. They were already filthy and bloody, but he didn’t have any replacements. “He needs an evac.”

“I can’t give you one,” Barbara said. Tim turned and looked at the gathered people. “And what did that woman do to Hood?”

_Why is she bothering? Dick already told everyone his real name,_ Tim thought, but didn’t voice his opinion. “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” He turned to Kathleen. “You, please make sure he doesn’t get up again.” He sat beside Dick and patted his shoulder.

“We… saw what happened,” Dick muttered. Tim closed his eyes and looked away. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t.” He looked up at the group of gathered people. “Yes, I lost the hostages.” He didn’t want to say that Harley killed them, even though the situation was so far out of his control that there was no way he could have prevented their deaths short of shooting Harley in the face the moment he saw her. “I’m sorry.”

“You should have killed that woman,” one of their group said. Tim looked towards the woman who had spoken. She was sitting in the center of the tent and her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. She had been crying, but her voice was eerily calm. “But you didn’t…”

“Ma’am,” he tried to reason. “If we kill them, we’re no better.”

“No better?” She laughed humorlessly. “Yes, I suppose your right. You _are_ no better! You grandstand here with your pathetic morals while you let innocent people die to protect your own sense of being! Those lives are on your hands!”

“That’s not fair…!” Dick snapped as strongly as his disease-ridden body would allow.

“My two children were on that Ferris wheel!” the woman shouted. Tim closed his eyes and his fingers twitched. “You could have saved them, but we watched you dance around with that monster just long enough for her to get the drop on you and you lost them! That’s on you, _hero_!” She spat the word like it was rancid meat.

Tim stared forward. He couldn’t show a reaction. If he broke down, all these people would see that their masked heroes were just people fumbling through life. “I’m sorry,” was all Tim could manage. What else could he say? That he’d try harder? That he knew he had screwed up? Nothing he said would bring her children back. Nothing would bring that Ferris wheel back onto that cliff.

“I don’t doubt that you are,” she said. Her voice was cold and angry. “I don’t doubt that you truly are sorry. I don’t doubt that their deaths will haunt your dreams at night or that you care. I’m sure you do. And I’m sure whatever happens tonight, you will never be the same. But neither will I, so I can’t take pity on you.”

“I didn’t ask you to,” Tim whispered, but not loud enough for her to hear him. Instead, Dick grabbed his hand and squeezed. The silent gesture was of little comfort, but it at least meant he wasn’t alone on this island.

He leaned against the tent. There were still more people to save and more things to do, but he needed a minute. Even though he had kept his body in top shape during his two-year retirement, that didn’t mean that he was still up for these things. A few years ago, this would be simpler. He had been in better shape then. Now he was still in great shape, but his body had settled into civilian life and he needed a minute.

Dick struggled to sit up beside him and Tim turned to glare at him, silently telling him to stay down. His glare went unnoticed or ignored. “If you apologize, or give me an “it’s going to be okay speech,” or make a joke, I will knock your teeth in,” Tim muttered.

Dick smiled. “So, basically you don’t want me to talk.”

“That counts as a joke…” He looked at the gathered people. Some of them were sitting by the fire, staring blankly at it as if it held some sort of answer for why this was happening. Others were milling around, discussing things like this was a damned garden party that had been rained out. Kathleen was trying to talk to the woman who had lost her children to no avail and the kids that remained were huddled together with one of the older men as he tried calming them with a story.

“This is just a game,” Tim muttered. “A sick and twisted game. And heaven only knows what the hell they’re doing to Jason. I was an idiot thinking I could bring a kid into this hellhole.”

Dick sighed. “You’re just stressed.”

“Of course I’m stressed. When did this job get so difficult?”

He shrugged. “It’s hard to do it on your own. When I started out in Bludhaven, there were times that I wanted to run right back to Batman and Gotham because I knew those streets and doing this work alone isn’t easy; but it _does_ get easier.”

“I don’t want it to get easier,” Tim argued. He knew that this wasn’t the time. He had people to save, but he needed this; if only for his own sanity. “I don’t want to get used to this. I wanted a civilian life.”

“What do you want me to tell you?” Dick asked, looking up at him. “Do you want me to give you permission to stop being Robin?” Tim shrugged. He didn’t know what he wanted. “If that’s what you want, then yeah, stop being Robin.”

Tim stood, patting Dick on the shoulder as he did. He needed to get back out there and stop feeling sorry for himself.

“Robin?”

Tim paused and looked back down. “What?” he snapped. If Dick was about to offer his death one more time, Tim would take him up on that offer.

“You’re going to get us off this island,” he said with a smile.

Tim had been telling himself that all night, but he was starting to have his doubts. “I wanted to jump,” he said and then turned without seeing Dick’s reaction. Instead, he addressed the group. “I’m going back out there. If anyone has anything else to say, please do it now.”

The group remained silent, staring back at him with vacant looks in their eyes. Tim nodded and headed for the entrance to the tent. “Good luck…” Harper called after him. He paused just long enough to bow his head before stepping back out into the freezing rain.

_GCPD  
1:49 am_

Barbara stared at the monitor tracking Tim as he made his way to the stage shows. She had muted her own side so Tim couldn’t hear her soft sobs. She hated seeing him like this. Maybe he had forgotten she was listening on the other end, or maybe he had wanted her to hear.

The door to the monitor room opened and Barbara looked away quickly, wiping the tears from her face; but she knew it was fruitless. Whoever was walking in would know that she was crying. “What is it, Cash?” she managed.

The door closed and she heard the sound of the lock clicking. She turned to see her father standing in the doorway. They couldn’t hear what Tim and Dick were saying unless they were near a camera that had a mic or they were near Harley or that other woman. No one knew what they were saying outside of those circumstances. “Barbara,” Jim said cautiously.

Barbara turned away to look at the monitors as Jim came up to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently. “He just wanted us to be happy,” she whispered, her voice shaking, but surprisingly cold. “I didn’t want kids at first… But he pushed for it… I believed him when he said everything would be okay.”

“It will be,” Jim tried to reason. He sounded as worried as she felt, but years of experience were helping him keep calm in the situation. Barbara wished she could be as calm as her father, but she couldn’t help but be emotional. Tim was falling apart at the seams and Barbara could do nothing but watch. She wanted to hold him and tell him that everything _would_ be okay, but the reassurance would only bring heart ache. It would be hollow. “Barbara…”

“Dad, I just… I don’t know anymore.”

“One bad night doesn’t change anything.”

“It changes _everything,”_ Barbara argued. “Do you think he’s going to put away the cape after this? This will only prove to him that he needs to be out there, trying to win against these disgusting people.” She pointed to the monitors where Tim was sneaking around a few guards. “Nothing will ever be the same again. This will haunt him for the rest of his life.”

“Then what would you have him do?” Jim asked.

She stared at the monitor; at the man she loved unconditionally and the persona she had come to accept and perhaps love just as much. Tim often said that Robin was another man entirely; another side of the coin. Maybe they all had coins that they flipped on a moment’s notice. She had experienced a little of it during her time as Batgirl. That duality of having a second persona dwelling just below the surface. Batgirl didn’t have time to spread her wings fully before Joker happened, but she understood in some capacity when Tim assured her that he and Robin were two sides of the same coin.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. She wanted to be selfish. She wanted to tell Tim that his time as Robin was over and that it was time to move on, but if they survived this evening, it would be his choice to make; not hers. “I just want him to be safe…” She turned on the mic, reopening the communications.

“Robin? I’m here for you,” Barbara said. He stopped and turned to one of the cameras. After staring at it for a moment, he smiled, flashing a thumb’s up before walking away.

Barbara smiled softly. For now, she wouldn’t worry about it. All that mattered at that moment was getting everyone left on that island out alive.

Before she could offer Tim the locations of the next batch of hostages, she suddenly felt extremely lightheaded. “D-dad…?” she gasped, pitching forward with a loud, pained groan. Blood was beginning to cover the wheelchair seat and it dripped to the floor as she cried out in pain.

Jim ran to the door of the control room. “Someone call an ambulance!” he shouted as Barbara screamed behind him.


	9. Bring Out Your Dead

 

_Grand Island: Stage Shows_  
_Hostages Saved: 14_  
_Hostages Killed: 12_  
_2:05 am_

“Oracle!” Tim shouted. He was surprised that he even remembered to use her code name, but it had slipped out as easily as her own name. “What’s happening?” The screams coming from the other end were heart-wrenching and he was frozen with fear. Had someone broken into the GCPD to shoot it up? Or, even worse, was it the baby?

He suddenly felt like the universe didn’t _want_ him to be happy. How else was he supposed to explain it? Someone in a much higher position than he was must have it in for him. It was the only explanation. “Someone talk to me!” Tim snapped.

“Robin?” It was Jim who was speaking. He sounded out of breath and panicked.

“What happened? Is she okay?”

Jim didn’t say anything and Tim waited impatiently for him to collect his thoughts and speak to him. “It’s the baby… There’s a lot of blood…!”

“Well, what’s wrong?” Tim shouted. He hated that he wasn’t there with her. He hated that he was on this island instead of where he _should have been_ that night!

This was Dick’s fault! The stress of the night was causing these complications. Dick had come to him when he _knew_ he wanted nothing to do with Robin or being Batman anymore! He wanted _none_ of this and yet Dick had dragged him back in like a recovering drug addict being offered the drug.

What scared him at that moment, as he listened to Barbara screaming and the sound of people milling in and out of the control room, was that he didn’t try to rationalize those feelings. It _wasn’t_ Dick’s fault for dragging him back in; it was his fault for coming. It wasn’t Jim’s fault for calling Nightwing to bring Jason in, and it wasn’t Jason’s fault for being a dangerous criminal. The island and all the lives he had lost thus far were no one’s fault except Harley and Doe. It was they who had orchestrated this whole thing and had rigged it against them. It wasn’t Dick’s fault, but he was the only one Tim could take the frustration out on.

“Robin…?”

Tim froze. Speak of the devil… He didn’t even notice how weak Dick was starting to sound. His condition was deteriorating fast and had Tim not been in a rage-filled fit of worry, he would have spared more than a passing plea that he could get them off the island before his friend’s time ran out. “I hope you’re happy,” Tim said in a coldest fury he could muster.

“Happy? Why would you think I’m happy?” Dick asked, sounding hurt.

“You _brought_ me here!” His voice was louder than he had wanted. He wanted to unleash everything on Nightwing. He wanted someone to blame.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen, Robin,” Dick said. Tim hardly noticed how broken he sounded.

Tim clenched his fists to try and stop the shaking. Barbara’s screams of pain had dulled to whimpers as he heard paramedics file in. He wanted to be rational about this. It wasn’t Dick’s fault. “We were trying to have a _life,_ and you came out of nowhere and dragged me back into this stupid game, that I never wanted to play!”

Dick sighed. “I know that… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen,” he repeated, but he didn’t raise his voice. Tim could hear it in his tone; the pain, the guilt. He knew that Dick blamed himself for this and he felt like a monster for poking at it.

“I know you didn’t,” Tim snapped. “That’s what makes it so infuriating! You meant well, Night, and I _know_ that! You just wanted to make things right and I can’t…” He paused. _I can’t fault you for that._ “Damn it… You were right,” he said, shaking his head.

“About what?” Dick asked. Tim stared at the sky, looking up at the clouds. He couldn’t blame anyone but Harley and Doe for this. He couldn’t, but he had to. He had to blame someone, because if he didn’t, this was just senseless violence

“I should have let you drown.”

He cut the line between them, leaving only the line between him and GCPD. He’d open the line back up after he had cooled down. He was only glad that he hadn’t said more, because he could have torn Nightwing to pieces.

“You were too harsh on him,” Jim said, coming back on the line.

Tim clenched his fists, but didn’t attack his father in law. “He’ll get over it. How’s Barbara?”

“The paramedics took her,” Jim answered. He sounded tired and scared. _Welcome to the club,_ Tim thought.

“Aren’t you going to go with them? I want to stay updated.”

Jim sighed. “I’ve called Lucius. I’ll leave when he gets here…”

Tim shook his head. This was a mess and it was only getting worse. He didn’t like getting anyone else involved, but he supposed the no one was safe from this life. He was a prime example of that. “I understand… Do they know what’s wrong with her?”

“No, they didn’t say. I’ll… keep you posted.” Jim sighed on the other end and Tim started walking towards the stage shows. He reopened the communications between him and the hostages. It was the least he could do.

“Robin…” The voice on the other end wasn’t male.

“Kathleen?” Tim asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, thank God! I thought you were dead!” She paused and brought in a shaking breath. “It’s Nightwing… I can’t wake him up!”

Tim’s eyes widened, and he stopped walking. He could either run back to the tent to try and figure out what was wrong with Nightwing, or he could continue the mission. There was only one right answer. There was nothing he could do for Dick. Even with his medical training, he couldn’t help him. The only thing that would save Dick now was getting him off the island. And, the mission always came first… that was what Bruce taught him. He shook his head. “Damn it,” he snapped and turned to go towards the stage shows. Nightwing would have to wait. But as he spun, he found a bat being swung at his face. He didn’t even have time to counter before he went down.

_Gotham City_  
_Past_  
_12:45 am_

He had been watching the crime scene unfold for an hour, staying in the rafters of the bank; waiting. He’d be there. He always came. “How do you plan on introducing yourself, idiot?” he muttered, hardly being able to hear his own voice over the sound of the alarms.

Just when he thought that maybe a bank robbery would be too small of a job for that night, the bodies started dropping. He smiled and put on his hood and mask, but he was content with watching for now. He watched the Bat move fluidly and silently, taking out the henchmen with ease. His eyes followed the movements and he smiled like a child on Christmas. It was a pleasure to see the Bat at work; and he didn’t even know he was being watched.

The Bat made short work of the twenty or so men in the room.

“You’re messing up my plans, Batman,” Two-Face called. “Maybe we can work these things out?” He didn’t get an answer.

A gun cocked, and Tim froze. He had been so focused on Batman that he hadn’t noticed the man sneaking up on him. He turned slowly to see a man aiming an assault rifle at his head.

“Dent!” Batman called. “Leave the kid alone. He has nothing to do with this!” Tim winced. Of course Batman knew he was there. Why did he think he could track the detective without being detected?

“Can’t do that, Bats. Why’s he here?”

“I don’t know,” Batman called. “Just leave him be.”

Harvey laughed. “Do you expect me to believe that the Batman got tailed by a brat like this?” Tim could almost imagine the man shaking his head with the thought. “Let’s flip a coin for it, shall we?”

“Dent!” He took out the grappling hook, jumping into the air. He kicked the henchmen, but not before he got a few rounds out. Tim gasped and fell from the rafters after a bullet tore through his calf muscle.

He hit the ground below hard while Batman took care of the man in the rafters. He watched through blurred eyes. It was still a pleasure to watch him work.

It didn’t take long for Batman to dispatch the shooter and then he landed gracefully beside Tim, kneeling beside him. “You’re an idiot, kid,” he said before his eyes glowed. “I need an ambulance at—”

“No!” Tim snapped. “Don’t call anyone!”

Bats turned to him and scowled. “That leg wound will bleed out,” he said. “And who knows what kind of injuries you sustained in the fall.” He ripped the handmade cape that Tim had put on for the mission. “Not bad. You make this yourself?”

“Yeah,” Tim answered, barely containing the giddiness. He had gotten praise from his hero.0

Bats worked on stabilizing the wound. “I’m going to leave you here. The police will be here soon to pick these men up. I will let them know that you are not to be arrested.” He stood. “Gordon, I’ve got---”

“Stop!” Tim gasped. “Please. Don’t tell anyone I was here.”

Batman turned to him and then sighed. “Never mind,” he said. He cut off the communications between him and Gordon. “Why are you here, kid?”

Tim struggled to his feet, holding up the injured leg. “I want to be Robin,” he said.

The man stared at him for a long moment and then shook his head. “No,” he said bluntly. He turned and started leaving. “Gordon, I’ve got a kid here. Make sure he’s given the respect he deserves.”

“Please!” Tim begged. “I’ve trained for this.”

Batman turned and looked at him, moving his gaze to his leg. “You will get yourself killed.”

“No, I won’t.” 

“You got shot on your job interview,” he said and turned around, heading for the door of the Bank.

“I can do better! I can _be_ Robin!”

“You don’t _want_ to be Robin!” Batman snapped, stopping without turning back. “That job will only get you killed. Do yourself a favor, kid, and walk away.”

Tim stared at the black cape as he retreated. He hadn’t meant to make him angry, and he didn’t want to drop this now, but he felt confident that Batman wouldn’t kill him to keep him quiet. “I won’t walk away from this…” He paused and stood up straighter, “Bruce Wayne.”

Bruce wheeled around and before Tim could speak, he rushed him. “What do you know about Bruce Wayne?” he shouted.

“I-I…” Tim gasped. He hadn’t been expecting that level of violence. He figured Batman would play it cool; telling him that he was crazy for thinking that Bruce Wayne could be the Batman.

Bruce grabbed his throat and held him up off the ground. “Who sent you?” he shouted, shaking him. “Was it the Joker?”

“N-no…! No one sent me!” Tim managed through the shaking. “Please…!”

“Batman!” Jim called. Bruce stopped shaking him. He seemed almost shocked at himself for what he had done and he dropped Tim onto the ground, backing away from him. The police had their guns training on Batman. “You okay, kid?” Jim asked. Tim nodded slowly and looked up at the mask man. Now what would happen?

“Lock him up,” he said as he walked towards the door.

“Now hold on! He’s just a kid, and he needs medical attention,” Jim argued, stepping in front of Batman to try and stop him from leaving.

Bruce pushed passed Gordon without pausing. “Lock him up, don’t unmask him, and don’t listen to a word he says.” And with that, he was gone. Tim looked at the opened door and frowned. He said nothing throughout Gordon’s interrogation and the work of the doctors as they stitched him up.

He sat in the cell as the night wore on until it was well into the early morning. It was when the night was almost done that the door to his cell opened. The precinct was quiet and the police on duty were nowhere near the holding cells. Tim looked up to see Batman standing in the cell doorway. “How did you know? Who told you?”

“No one,” Tim said, standing up despite the pain. “I figured it out.”

“Your name is Timothy Drake,” Bruce said. “I know you’ve been following me for a few days, but I’m going to assume that you’ve been tracking me a lot longer than that. I must say, you’re a smart kid. How’d you do it?”

Tim smirked. He had gotten the Batman’s attention and now he could finally make his case. Months of detective work and tracking Bruce Wayne had finally paid off because it had led to him standing in front of Batman and actually holding cards against him. “I’ll tell you in the Batcave.”

Bruce crossed his arms and glared down at Tim. He had always wondered how he would feel being stared down by Batman, but it was surprisingly not as terrifying as he had thought. Maybe it was because he knew who was under the mask. Or maybe it was because he felt like he had earned the Bat’s respect in at least some capacity. “You’ve got a lot of nerve,” he said, shaking his head. “But it’s a bad job, kid. Nothing good comes from joining this team.”

“I’ve got nowhere better to be.”

Bruce frowned. “There’s always a better place to be.” He turned and started to leave without closing the cell door. Tim didn’t move from the cell. He wasn’t sure if he had been accepted or not. “You coming, kid? We’ve got work to do.”

_Later that year;_  
_Batcave_

“Again!” Bruce shouted, hitting Tim with the staff he had managed to wrestle from him.

“That was a dirty trick,” Tim snapped. He grabbed the other end of the staff and pulled, but Bruce didn’t let go. Instead, he pulled back and for a moment, a silly game of tug-of-War broke out between the two. It became less comical when Bruce used the force of Tim’s pull and shoved the end of the staff into his stomach, forcing him to the ground with a loud, pained grunt.

“You think criminals will play fair, Jason?” Bruce asked angrily. Tim looked up at him and cocked his head. Bruce grimaced. He tossed the staff to the ground and it bounced towards him. “We’re done for the day.”

“But...”

“I said we’re done!”

Tim stood slowly, collected the staff and then hurried out of the cave like a bat out of hell.

“You are much too hard on him, Master Bruce,” Alfred said as he walked over to the man. “He is still young.”

“And he’s not taking this seriously. He won’t... I can’t take him out on more patrol until he can handle himself out there!”

Alfred nodded and looked up at the array of monitors. Bruce followed his gaze. There were no threats so far that night, but things had a habit of turning deadly rather quickly. “Don’t you think perhaps it is time you bury Master Todd?” The butler asked. Bruce braced himself for the lecture. “Joker has confirmed his death months ago...”

Bruce shook his head. “That kid...” he started but paused when he noticed Alfred staring at him with a hard gaze. “What?”

“If you are not ready to leave what happened in the past, you should not have brought Master Drake into this.”

“He figured out who I was. What would you have had me do, Al? Kill him to keep him quiet?”

Alfred’s glare turned more severe. “Do not even joke like that, sir. You know that wasn’t what I was insinuating.” He turned back to the monitors. There was something happening in China Town. The signal was already in the sky.

Bruce stood. “Then what did you mean?”

“You can’t change what happened to Jason. All you can do is make sure it doesn’t happen again, and you treating that boy, that YOU brought into this bloody mess, like he means nothing will only guarantee a similar path that we sent Master Todd on. Don’t continue to bring people into this damned crusade unless you are willing to give them the time and respect they deserve!”

Bruce didn’t look at Alfred, but he knew by the tone in the man’s voice that he was standing more rigid than usual. A clear sign of his agitation and annoyance with his surrogate son. Bruce knew he had been keeping Tim out of arm’s length. After losing Jason, he hadn’t wanted another Robin and he sure as hell didn’t want to get attached to another young kid that he had needlessly brought into this mess. He looked at the screens on the computer. Firefly was at it again. “You’re right,” he said.

He didn’t give Alfred time to question what he meant before he went upstairs. He could hear Tim complaining to Barbara about the treatment and he paused to smile sadly at how much it reminded him of Jason and how nice it was to hear idle chatter in the mansion again.

“Barbara, Firefly is causing trouble. We’re heading to China Town.” He paused.

Tim frowned at Barbara. “See you later, Batgirl. I guess I’ll help Alfred clean to toilets.”

Barbara smiled warmly and patted his hand as she stood.

Bruce clenched his fists as he watched them. Unveiling a new Robin would solidify Tim’s place in their world and their mission. He had been on patrols with Tim before, and had taken him out into the city, but he had always kept him out of the fray as much as possible; but not tonight. Tonight, he was bringing Tim out as his official partner. It was the moment of truth. The moment he walked out was the moment that Timothy Drake took a backseat to Robin. There would be no going back after this. “Tim, let’s go.”

Tim stiffened and looked at Bruce with wide eyes. “Excuse me?”

Bruce wasn’t sure about this, but between him and Batgirl, he knew that Tim would be okay. “It’s time to prove yourself, Robin.”

_Bludhaven  
2:15 am_

Bruce paced the small living room. “To hell with it…!” he snapped and headed for the door. He knew why Alfred had told him not to go, but Tim was in way over his head and he wasn’t about to sit there and watch him die.

He paused before opening the door. “Why don’t you want me to go?”

“You know why,” Alfred said.

“You’re telling me to be selfish,” Bruce argued without turning to face the man. “This isn’t about me and my safety.”

“No, Master Bruce, it’s not,” Alfred snapped. Bruce closed his eyes. Alfred sounded angry, and he turned to face the man. “This isn’t about _your_ safety, or mine, or even the child’s in the next room. This is about _their_ safety. It’s about the company where hundreds of people are employed and if you show your face, they all become targets. Once they realize Bruce Wayne is still alive, half of Gotham will go up in flames because they will bomb every building Wayne Enterprises owns and target every employee until you come out for your public execution. It’s about Lucius, and Barbara and Jim. It’s about not making Tim and Dick targets.”

“They’re already targets!” Bruce argued, pointing to the TV.

“No, they aren’t. Robin and Nightwing are targets! Tim has a chance of a normal life after this. If you go out there, you will ruin whatever chance those boys have at living outside of the crusade that you brought them in to,” Alfred said. He stepped forward and stood straighter. “You may think that staying here is the selfish thing to do, but going out there is selfish. Your very presence will destroy lives. So, yes, I want you to stand here and watch them suffer because if Tim and Dick and Jason are fortunate enough to survive this, they will be able to move on, but if you go out there, they will never be able to be anything other than the soldiers you created. Your death has kept them safe.”

Bruce deflated. “I can’t just do nothing.”

“Then do something, but don’t go out there.”

Bruce sat down and stared at the TV screens. He closed his eyes. Anyone who knew he was alive was instantly in danger. He hadn’t meant to come back out for anything. He had even been happy when he found out that Tim had put down the mask. “I should have reeled Jason in myself,” he muttered. He went to the kitchen and pulled out a black burner phone.

He opened the phone and there was only one number on it. He dialed it. It rang twice, which was a surprisingly short amount of time for the middle of the night. “Hello?” the voice on the other end said. Bruce frowned. He was driving? “Who is this?”

“Lucius,” Bruce said. “How are you?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for several minutes. If it weren’t for the sound of the car moving in the background, he would have thought that the man on the other end hung up. “Don’t give me any information about where you are,” Lucius said. “What do you want?”

“I want inside information. I want someone to keep me updated on what’s happening on that island and I don’t want anyone else to know I know what’s going on.”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve,” Lucius said, but Bruce could hear the humor in his voice. “I’m on my way to the GCPD. Barbara’s been rushed to the hospital and Jim wants me in on mission control, so it’s your lucky day.”

Bruce clenched his fists. Did everything _have_ to go wrong all on one day? “What happened?”

“That is none of your concern, Mr. Wayne. _You_ are a dead man. I’ll keep you posted, but don’t call me again. I’ll set up a way to keep you in the loop.”

Bruce sighed. He didn’t like it, but it was better than pacing the living room seeing only what Harley wanted him to see. “You are a godsend, Lucius. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “And, for the record, I’m glad you aren’t dead.”

Bruce smiled grimly. “What are you talking about? Of course I am.”


	10. Thou Shalt Not Kill

Chapter 10: Thou Shalt Not Kill

_GCPD  
2:30 am_

Lucius stepped into the precinct and it was like walking into a war zone. People were milling around, shouting and throwing orders and insults at each other. The phones rang off the hook; most likely people taking advantage of the situation. The man paused briefly as he looked for Jim among the mess of people. The paramedics had already come and gone by that point, but it was clear that everyone was still on edge.

“Mr. Fox!” an officer called. Lucius smiled and waved. “You don’t know how happy I am to see you. Jim’s having a fit.”

“Good evening, Bullock,” Lucius said as he hurried down to meet the older man. “What’s the situation?”

“What _isn’t_ the situation?” he answered. “We lost contact with Robin about thirty minutes ago. This way.” Bullock ushered Lucius into the control room where Jim and about ten officers were monitoring the situation. Lucius hung back as he looked at the monitors. The only one with anything worth looking at was the prison cell. Jason was there and his pained panting could be heard in the room. It was the only sound anyone was making.

The door to the cell opened and Doe stepped in. Jason reacted with a bout of struggling, but she didn’t attack him. “Oh, stop that,” she said. Her voice sounded grainy through the cameras. “You aren’t going anywhere.” She took the crowbar in her hands and slammed it against his stomach, causing a loud grunt. She swung a couple more times before dropping it to the ground with a loud clang. Jason stayed remarkably calm until she removed the gloves from her hands.

In that instance, he began thrashing and struggling again in a clear state of panic. “Been chasing this guy for months…” one of the officers, an older man, said quietly. “And he’s just a kid.”

Lucius turned to Bullock for clarification. “Hood’s been on our radar for a while. The way he deals with criminals makes him a criminal as well. I don’t think anyone here actually realized how young Red Hood is… How young any of them are, to be honest.”

Lucius nodded slowly. “Jim?” he called. “What do you have on her?” It felt weird talking with the screams of a young man in the background like elevator music. But they couldn’t let this stop them. The only way they were getting off that island was if everyone kept their heads.

Jim stood from the control seat. “Not much,” he said. “We busted a human trafficking and experiment ring last year, and she might have been part of that.”

“A trafficker or a victim?”

“By the looks of things, I’d say a victim. It’s the only one I can think of in recent memory that would produce someone with…” he paused and looked up at the screen. “ _…that_ kind of capability.

“What is it?” Lucius asked, He didn’t want to take a closer look, but where ever she touched him, his skin turned black and it caused him excruciating pain.

“I have no idea.”

Lucius looked at the gathered police force and saw it in their faces; they were just kids. The people that they had demonized or expected to do their job were just a bunch of kids who were in way over their heads. The looks of shame and sadness said enough.

He shook his head and turned back to Jim. “How’s Barbara?”

“Okay,” Jim said, though he didn’t sound like he believed that for a second.

“Go on, then, I’ve got this.” Jim nodded and hurried out of the room. “Alright, men! Everybody out!” Lucius demanded.

When no one moved, Bullock stepped forward. “You heard the man; out! I don’t want anyone in here unless you are invited! This is still a Saturday night in Gotham, people. I’m sure you’ll be able to keep yourselves busy!” He paused as the men filed out of the room, leaving it in silence. Even Jason had stopped screaming and panting; most likely rendered unconscious for the time being. That was a mercy. “If you need anything, let me know.”

Lucius nodded and Bullock shut the door as he left. Once he was sure that there would be no more interruptions, he placed the headset on his head and patched in the last number that had called his cell. “Flying Fox, this is the Ground Fox. I’ve been set up at the GCPD,” he said.

“Flying Fox?” Bruce asked.

Lucius didn’t feel the need to explain that flying foxes were a type of bat and he wasn’t about to start calling him Batman when he could be overheard by anyone at any moment. He also wanted to get out of this mess without a target painted on his back. “Get me everything you can on the trafficking ring that was busted last year. We need to figure out who this woman is and where she came from.”

“What about Robin?”

“I’ll try and locate him. They said that they lost contact with him about half an hour ago. If he’s still alive, I’ll find him.”

_Grand Island: Prison Cell_  
Hostages Saved: 14  
Hostages Killed: 12  
3:04 am

Tim opened his eyes to harsh, white lights. He slammed his eyes shut to stave off the headache that was brewing in his skull. A long, soft moan escaped his mouth and for a moment, he didn’t even realize that he was the one making the noise. He didn’t even want to think about how much time he had lost.

He opened his eyes again, slower this time, and took a look at his surroundings. He was in the Arkham replica. He tried to sit up, but his head swam and he went back down with a soft, pained moan. “Easy, there,” a voice told him. Whoever was speaking sounded as exhausted as he felt.

Tim finally rolled over to see Jason shackled above him. He looked even worse in person. There were cuts and bruises covering his body like tattoos and the wound that they had seen Doe inflict on his chest was black. A foul odor was in the room and it took him a minute to realize that it was the smell of rotting flesh. He gagged and put his hand over his face. “If you’re going to be sick… don’t be.”

Tim stood shakily, stumbling back hard against the wall of the prison cell.

“I said easy,” Jason said. “You’d think he would have replaced me with someone a bit more competent.”

“Sorry,” Tim muttered, though he wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for; not being easy or replacing Jason... He looked at the camera in the room. It was on, meaning everyone could probably see them, and most likely hear them, since this was one of the few places where the audio would be clean. “Are you okay?”

“Never better.”

Tim figured he deserved that bitter tone. He walked over to Jason and noticed that the key to the leg shackles were on the floor. “Planning an escape?” he asked.

“No. Doe left it there. Says you can’t finish this game alone.”

“Oh, how sweet of her.” Tim worked on getting Jason free. Once he had unlocked the shackles and cut the rope, Jason fell to the ground with a moan. Tim knelt beside him, but he was in no condition to carry Jason. Them giving him another injured person to worry about would only hinder this game; not complete it. He looked at the wound on Jason’s chest and a few other black spots. That’s where the smell was coming from. “What did she do to you?”

“No idea,” Jason said, sitting up. Tim supported his back as he moved.

“It smells---” he trailed off.

“Rotten?”

Tim nodded. “Like rancid meat.” He put his hand on the wound and yanked it back when he felt how soft it was. Luckily, the damage seemed to only be surface, but whatever had happened to make Doe be able to do this was terrifying.  “Can you walk?” he said after a moment of examining the wound. There was nothing they could do about it at that moment. It wasn’t oozing pus or bleeding, so they at least had that going for them.

“Yeah, I can,” Jason said and then stood. “I need water and my guns.”

“I can probably get you water,” Tim said, standing slower. “The guns, not so much.”

“Don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about letting these women live!” Jason snapped. Tim didn’t answer. He walked over to where his headset had been discarded. “You’re not serious! Are you stupid or something?”

“Just principled.” He bent down and picked up the link. “How long have I been out?”

“I don’t know. An hour at most.”

Tim bit his lip, but didn’t complain. He was lucky to still be alive and he knew that he would be spending days nursing a concussion after this if he was lucky enough to see the sun rise. He put the set in his ear. “Jim?”

“Good evening, Robin,” Lucius said. Tim closed his eyes. “It’s good to hear your voice. We thought you were dead for a while there.”

“We?”

“Hello,” Kathleen said sheepishly.

“Nightwing…” Tim gasped, suddenly remembering what had happened… and what he had said. “How is he?” Lucius sighed and Kathleen let out a soft choking sound that resembled a sob. Tim’s stomach dropped. Had he passed? He couldn’t have passed! “How is he?” he demanded.

“Circling the drain,” Kathleen said in a soft, squeaking voice.

Tim’s knees felt weak and there was a tightness in his chest. He had promised Dick he would get them all off that island safely. He had made a promise to all of them that no one else was dying that night and now… now he could do nothing to save Nightwing. “How long?” he asked.

“Impossible to say,” Lucius said, taking over for the far less experienced Kathleen in handling the bad news. “No more than a few hours, though. She told me that his fever is too high.” Tim put a hand on the wall to steady himself. “He’ll be lucky if he regains consciousness at all before--”

“No!” Tim snapped, cutting Lucius off. “I don’t accept that. I’m getting him off this island even if I have to swim back to Gotham!”

Lucius didn’t speak for a few moments. Tim knew how childish and stubborn he sounded, but he couldn’t let a broken leg and an infection be what killed Nightwing. “Alright,” the man said. “You should work on freeing the first responders since you are there. Maybe one of them knows more first aid and can help.”

Tim nodded and started for the door. “He shouldn’t be our only concern,” Jason berated as he hurried after him.

“He’s not.”

“What are you going to do if he dies, then?” Jason asked, jogging to walk side by side with Tim. “Are you going to kill them?”

Tim narrowed his eyes. “No,” he answered. It was the answer he had been told to give. They don’t kill. That was drilled into his head since before he even became Robin. He had grown up watching Batman put criminals away when killing them would have been easier.

Jason scoffed. “Why not? Because it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside _not_ to kill? As if sending them to Arkham is any better. Have you ever spent time in that place? It’s a fate worse than death!”

“New Arkham is better,” Tim said weakly. It wasn’t much of an argument, but it was all he had.

“Sure, now… Give it a few years and it’ll be right back where we started with the old Arkham.” Jason sped up and stood in front of Tim, stopping their progress. “We are killing them.”

Tim pushed Jason out of his way and started walking again. “No, we aren’t.”

“Are you completely stupid or did Batman really brainwash you that much?”

“The only one brainwashed here is you,” Tim said. He didn’t care to try and rationalize Jason’s attitude. It wasn’t nice of him to bring up Jason’s torture, but he didn’t care. Now wasn’t the time for being nice. “We. Don’t. Kill.”

“ _You_ don’t kill,” Jason returned. Tim didn’t look at him. “I do whatever I want” He paused, then added under his breath, “And that was a low blow.”

“Am I wrong?”

“Yes.” He sounded defensive and Tim was already getting tired of this conversation. They were going to argue about this and get nowhere, but it was better than silence. “Why?”

Tim looked at him and narrowed his eyes. “Why what?”

“Why shouldn’t put two little bullets into their heads? It would prevent this from happening again.”

Tim shook his head. “No, it would prevent those two from doing this again. We’d still have criminals and copycat crimes.” He didn’t know why they were having this argument. Jason clearly knew how he felt about killing and Jason would probably end up doing things his own way in the end. Tim was fully prepared to knock out the Arkham Knight to save Harley and Doe. The thought made him want to laugh at the insanity of it all.

“You want to get off that high horse any time soon?” Jason scoffed.

“Not killing them is what makes us better than them.”

Jason laughed. “Is that what you tell yourself at night when you go to bed after putting away Dent for the third time in a year, knowing he’ll escape again? That you are _better_ for not putting a bullet in his brain?”

“When he would have done the same to me without hesitation, then yes,” Tim argued.

“No, no, no… That’s not how this works, Robin. We’re better because of _why_ we kill, not whether or not we do the deed.”

It was a warped way of thinking and it didn’t make them any different. Everyone killed because they thought they were doing right by the world; unless they were completely insane. The road to hell was paved with good intentions, after all. Everyone thought they were doing what needed to be done by killing. “That doesn’t make us better!”

“Are you trying to tell me that a cop who shoots a man in the middle of strangling someone is on the same level as the guy who was strangling the person?” Tim didn’t answer. Jason shook his head. “You really are mental, aren’t you? Every time you don’t kill a criminal and they escape to kill someone else, that blood… that’s on _you.”_

Tim clenched his fists. “Is that the justification you used when you teamed up with Scarecrow? That it was Bruce’s fault for not killing the Joker?”

“It _was_ _his fault!”_ Jason shouted. Tim took a second to prevent him from hitting Jason. He had forgotten about the man’s torture-induced hairpin temper. “ _This_ is even his fault! We’re not better because we don’t kill, we’re better because we kill for the right reasons! Don’t tell me you wouldn’t shoot anyone who was holding a gun to someone you love.”

“If you kill a murderer, the number of killers in the world remains the same,” Tim tried to reason. Jason was clearly on edge and he couldn’t be blamed for that.

“That’s why you kill two.”

Tim stopped and turned to the older man. He suddenly felt the urge to punch Jason in the face and send him sprawling to the ground; wound be damned. He clenched his fists instead. “Do you feel any remorse?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“About what?”

“About that night,” he clarified. For a moment, he saw Jason’s mouth twitch into an almost unnoticeable frown and then he shook his head and started walking. Tim watched him for a moment before trailing behind.

For a while, they were silent as they walked the halls and Tim was certain he wasn’t getting an answer to his question, but eventually Jason sighed. “Remorse is a strong word.” Tim bit back the point that what Jason had done that night required some strong wording. “I feel… like I may have overreacted.”

“Do you regret it?”

“In hindsight…” he paused and let out a long sigh. “Yeah…”

Tim almost stopped walking. He hadn’t expected Jason to answer like that. He had been expecting him to say that it had to be done; that the world was better without Batman, but he was admitting his mistake in what had happened that night. “Why?”

“Because I wanted to hate him… I wanted to hate all of them; You, Bruce, Alfred… Barbara…”

“You kidnapped her.”

“And no one hurt her while she was in my custody,” Jason snapped. “I wouldn’t allow it.” He shook his head. “I thought killing Bruce would make the pain go away, but it turns out that murdering your mentor doesn’t actually have the healing touch I thought it might.”

“You still saved him.” Tim said with a shrug. He had been unconscious for that, but Jim had given him the rundown of what had happened in that room.

Jason didn’t look anywhere but forward as he gathered his thoughts. “Because of you,” he said quietly. “When Scarecrow went after you, I figured Bruce would leave to your demons until everything was finished, and then he’d come after you if he had time. I thought he’d leave you for dead, like he left me… But he didn’t. He gave up everything because it was your life on the line. He didn’t have to. The day had been saved… Scarecrow was basically defeated by that point, but he did it anyway.”

“He never buried you…” Tim whispered, remembering the many times that Bruce had called him Jason. “Not really. I think a part of him knew you weren’t dead. But what else were we supposed to think? We all saw those tapes… He never stopped hoping you’d come back, and he was extremely protective of all of us after what happened to you; to the point where he pushed us away…”

Jason didn’t speak for a while and they moved in silence until they were finally where the police officers were being held. Tim observed the room silently. Eleven officers and firefighter were placed in different areas of the large aviary-type room. He looked up at the glass ceiling as the rain, snow and ice piled on top of it and he sighed. The night was taking a toll on him, but he felt certain that they could at least get the ones left alive off the island safely. He pulled out his grappling hook to get to a vantage point, but stopped when Jason put his hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said.

Tim resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was getting tired of people apologizing for the night they were having. “Water under the bridge,” he said, though they both knew that wasn’t true. One didn’t simply get over someone killing a good friend and mentor.

“No, it’s not,” Jason said.

Tim didn’t argue. Instead, he grappled to the vantage point while Jason moved on the ground. Bygones would be bygones eventually… but not tonight.


	11. There Will Be Light

 

_Grand Island: Prison Ward_  
Hostages Saved: 14  
Hostages Killed: 12  
3:38 am

 Tim was distracted as he scanned the room. It looked like the medical wing in Arkham Asylum; down to the vantage points. He narrowed his eyes. Why would they go through all this trouble to recreate the Asylum with such painstaking detail? Was Harley really so obsessed with what happened there that she wanted to rebuild it in its previous image? There was obsession and then there was this, and Tim didn’t know how to take it.

All these thoughts were to keep his mind off of Dick’s deteriorating condition. Lucius was constantly asking Kathleen for updates and she gave tearful responses about how his condition wasn’t improving. They were using water from the freezing rain to try and keep his fever down, but Tim knew that wouldn’t work. Dick needed a hospital, not a filthy carnival floor.

He didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about the man he had come to know as a co-worker and friend was dying on a cold wet floor while no one could do anything to help him. He didn’t want to think about how all this could have been avoided had they just stayed home that night. None of that mattered now, he supposed, but it still hurt him to know that everything was falling apart because two people tried to do some good in the world.

He was dragged out of his thoughts when he noticed Jason moving to silently take down one of the guards by an officer. He watched Hood work silently and only flinched when he saw Jason break the guard’s neck. Jason lowered the body to the ground so it wouldn’t crash and then he pointed to officer to the exit before moving on. Tim sighed and weighted the staff in his hands before he jumped from the vantage point, using the cape to cover his landing. He’d have to berate Jason for his methods later.

He snuck above the men below, keeping his footsteps light. This was hard without a commlink between him and Jason because he had no idea what the other was doing, but he kept his head down. They had freed one, so that meant there were still eleven. That was plenty for them not to get in each other’s way.

He jumped below and crept forward. The officer spotted him first and then the guard, but it was too late. Tim grabbed the man’s mouth and blocked his airway, rendering him unconscious within seconds. He turned around and undid the officer’s handcuffs. He pointed. “Go there. We’ll get the others,” he whispered. She nodded and stood, but he grabbed her arm. “How did you guys manage to get here?”

“We got a call,” she said. “And we came to help.” He released her arm and she hurried off. Too many people were being punished for doing the right thing and it almost made him wish he hadn’t done it. He moved on, hurrying to another officer. The sooner they finished this, the sooner they could get off the island and get Dick the medical attention he needed.

Eventually, after taking down two more guards, Tim and Hood met up. “We really need to get you a link,” he said. Jason shrugged. Tim knew it didn’t matter to him. They both wanted this night to be over and the longer they took running around, the more chances things would go wrong. “How many have you… dispatched?”

Jason smirked, clearly amused by Tim’s insistent terminology. “I’ve killed six of them,” he said, pointing to Tim. “What about you?”

Tim rolled his eyes. “None.” He knew what Jason had meant when he said it, but he was beyond the point of caring about what anyone said or wanted.

“Oh, you know what I meant.”

“Three,” he answered without giving Jason enough time to make a snide remark.

“I thought you wanted to save Nightwing. We need to hurry up.”

Tim didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. Instead, he slipped away to finish the job. A part of him felt like he was trying too hard to save the bad guys in this situation. What did it matter if Jason killed a few? It meant less problems for them to deal with… but he couldn’t bring himself to think those things completely. Maybe he _had_ been brainwashed into thinking that murdering their enemies wasn’t the best thing to do, but it really wasn’t a great idea from any standpoint.

He paused over one of the guards. She was taunting the fireman as she circled around him. She was hitting him with the barrel of her gun as she taunted his situation. Tim narrowed his eyes. What drove people to act like this? He wasn't sure he wanted to know. They all probably had it in them to be monsters. Some people were just better at keeping that side of themselves under wraps. 

Tim looked at the tormenter closer and scoffed softly. Upon closer examination, he realized he recognized the woman who was tormenting the firefighter. She was the same one who had caught him in the arcade and killed the hostage. He clenched his fists. His palms were itching to take her down, but he staved off the urge. He wouldn’t sink to their level. Justice would be served, but he would not get revenge. She'd have her day in court like the rest of them. 

He stepped forward, moving as silently as possible, but he must have made a mistake. He didn’t even know what he had done. He had just messed up. It has been a long night and he was beyond the point where exhaustion was taking over. He was at that point where his body was moving on autopilot. Mistakes were inevitable. He froze when the gun cocked, and the woman aimed it at his location. Without a moment’s hesitation, Tim lunged towards the woman, knowing what happened last time he had been caught. No one else was dying on his watch; not when he could do something about it. 

He ran at her, deflecting the rain of bullets with his shield. As he neared, he collapsed the shield and swung the staff at her head, sending her sprawling into the ground. Before she could even register what had happened, he kicked her square in the face. Staring down at her, he wanted to strangle her… to take the life from her body and make her suffer, but he pushed down those thoughts. He couldn’t have them. He needed to care about lives because if he didn’t, he wasn’t Robin anymore.

Robin turned to the firefighter and began undoing his restraints. "Hey... thanks, Robin," the man said. 

"Don't mention it." He finished removing the ropes and helped the man up. He meant it. He didn’t want their thanks. He just wanted to get off that island. Being just as scared and angry about this didn’t make him feel like he deserved their thanks.

The man grabbed his arm tightly. "No, I mean it," he said, staring up at Tim's face as if searching his eyes for something. "Thank you for coming back. The younger ones... they didn't think you'd come. We were worried about you... after what happened to Batman… We thought you were dead, too." 

Tim smiled and made to speak, but instead of words, a pained moan came from his mouth as he felt a knife enter his back through one of the faults in his armor. He gasped and pitched forward. Pain spread from the puncture sight. His eyes went wide and he coughed, holding back a scream of pain and terror. A stab wound… that meant certain death.

"You should have stayed in hiding, little bird," the woman snapped. Tim gasped hard and dropped to his knees. As he fell, she ripped the knife from his back. He shouted, unable to hold back the pain. It was enough to make him drop to his hands. They gripped at the soaked grass beneath them. Thunder shook the ground and the rain came harder.

He tried to stand, but any movement caused his torn back muscle to spasm. Through the rain and the ringing in his ears and the blurred vision. He saw the firefighter lunge at the woman as she had the knife poised to stab again. _N-no… don’t…_ he wanted to cry out. The words couldn’t manifest passed his thoughts. He couldn’t make them come out. _Please…_ he begged silently. He knew there was only one outcome of this encounter now and he didn’t know if he could handle it.

The rain seemed to freeze him in place as the drops became hail. It bounced off his armor with such uncaring indifference that he wanted to curse it as much as he wanted to curse the people who had set up this twisted, unwinnable game. He was powerless to do anything as she gained the upper hand on the exhausted man. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion as she grabbed the firefighter and stabbed him. First it was in the arm, making him lose his balance. The second and third stabs were in his gut, and the fourth stab found its way between his ribs. She twisted the knife before tossing him away like a discarded doll. His body crashed to the ground with a sickening, muted _thud_.

The world returned to normal speed, but now everything sounded like he was hearing it from underwater. It echoed and felt sluggish. With whatever strength he had left, Tim stood. It felt like he was watching this all from a grainy, old television set. He felt so detached from the situation even as he lunged that the woman. He didn’t have the strength, but he found it in the anger and bloodlust running through him. Innocent people didn’t need to die to prove a point!  

He swung the weapon, but she grabbed it on his swing. She was clearly in better shape and after just a brief struggle, she wrestled it from his grip. He reacted as quickly as he could She was faster. The staff struck him hard against the side of his head. Luckily, she wasn't trained in the bo staff, but she was powerful. Tim went down hard next to the firefighter. The ringing in his ears grew louder and all he could hear was the sound of heart beat and his labored breathing. His head rolled to its side and he stared at the firefighter. Against all odds, and to the sick pleasure of whatever god thought this was funny, the man was still alive. Tim’s dark eyes locked with his wide blue ones. The fear was apparent. The fear of death, of leaving behind friends and, God forbid, family. He wanted to offer some sort of reassurance, but he knew those fears were reflected in his own eyes. There was nothing he could do to ease the man’s pain and his fear. Even as he watched, the light was fading from his eyes.

The moment was broken as his assailant grabbed him and lifted him off the ground. She stabbed him again, this time in the belly, and then let him fall back to the mud. 

"The Faceless wants you alive," she said. Her voice sounded distant. He struggled to hear her and focus on her words. "Though I don't know why. It'd be so much more spectacular to waltz into the GCPD with your broken and bloodied corpse!" 

All he could do was laugh. It didn’t even matter _why_ they were doing this. None of it mattered; not when death was so close. "I don't know what... problem... you have with Robin," Tim gasped. Giving up wasn’t easy to do, though. He reached for his pouch to pull out a shuriken, but he hurled her knife at him, impaling his hand. 

"This isn't personal, Birdie," she said. 

Those words felt hollow. Of course it was. She wouldn’t be doing this with such hatred if it wasn’t. "Feels... kind of personal..." he rasped.

She smiled, as if taking sick enjoyment of his helplessness. "It isn't fun, is it? Waiting to be saved! Waiting for someone to give a damn about you!" She cocked the gun and aimed it at his face. "I'd rather drag you and your ilk through the streets of Gotham! I’d rather crucify you for those hopeful few to watch you die and their pitiful hope to die with you!”

"Because you waited for a hero?" Tim asked through gritted teeth. 

"Because a hero never came!"

He closed his eyes. The desire to beg for his life came, but he wouldn’t do that. It wouldn’t matter. Somewhere across the city, Barbara was giving birth to their daughter; a child he’d never meet… a life he wasn’t meant to have. An image of a normal life came into his mind. He wanted to die to that image. Him walking into the house to the sound of Barbara laughing and their daughter squealing in delight over something that only children found so exciting. A life that would never be his…

A gunshot echoed through the room. There was the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the ground as bits of blood, hair and brain splattered Tim’s face. He dared to open his eyes. Jason was standing a few feet away with an AK-47 at the ready. "Heroes aren't on demand," he said. 

Tim closed his eyes again, but he didn't have time to rest. There was no time to relish in his own pain. He rolled over and crawled to the firefighter’s lifeless body. "No... no no no..." he gasped. His hands were shaking even as he put his hands on the stab wounds that were no longer bleeding. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…!” he gasped. He couldn’t… he couldn’t _save_ them.

"Get up, Robin," Jason said. His tone was so matter of fact that it angered Tim. How could he be so calm? How could he not care? "We have a mission to complete." 

Tim stared down at the body and the blood on his hands. He didn’t even know who’s blood it was. His, the man’s… hers…? The children on that Ferris wheel? The man at the arcade? Dick’s…? Tim shook his head. "No," he said again. It was a simple word, but it was all he had left to give.

"What do you mean, no?" Jason stood over him. "You don't get to give in now. Nightwing is still..."

"Nightwing is going to die!" Tim snapped. Where did Jason get the _right_ to talk about Dick? When did he start to give a damn? "We can't save him!” His voice broke. “...I can't save him..."

"Look, you're tired, and you're hurt..." Jason tried, but Tim shook his head again, cutting off Jason’s motivational speech. Jason sighed and kicked him gently on the foot. "Come on. We can still get out of this.” He kicked him harder. “Stand up." 

Tim didn't move from where he stared down at the body. His mistakes… The life he could never have. Even if he did survive this, nothing would ever be the same. He was Robin… Robin was a part of him that he couldn’t just keep in a box. Even if Robin survived the night, Tim would never get rid of the scars. Robin would never die. That life… That normal life that he had wanted was unattainable.

"Stand up, Robin!" Jason shouted. Tim still didn't move. Did he want to? Did he _want_ to give up? Jason let out an exasperated sigh and kicked him in the side, but got no reaction. "Fine. Then bleed out where you kneel, and Night will follow you to the grave, along with everyone here! These people, The Faceless, seem to think that heroes don't care or at least only care about those they deem important enough. I'm going to prove them wrong, but you can die here if that's what you want."

It wasn't what Tim wanted, but what he wanted didn't matter anymore. What he wanted had never mattered. Barbara wanted him to be _better_ than Batman. Bruce wanted him to be _better_ than Jason… Gotham wanted him to be _better_ than the criminals. What he wanted had _never_ mattered. All that mattered was the mission. "You're right..." he said quietly. What else was there? Dying in the mud, feeling sorry for himself? His voice sounded defeated, but neither one of them brought attention to it. He pushed himself to his feet, but his whole body shook. Blood trickled from the stab wounds. He took a shaky step forward before his knees buckled and he crashed to the ground

 

Jason stared at Tim for a moment, frozen and unsure what to do. Then his mind entered a state of panic and he dropped to his knees beside Tim. He started trying to plug the stab wounds, but Robin's suit wasn't the batsuit. It didn't have the fancy tech that formed over wounds to stop the bleeding. It was just armor. 

He got to work tearing the cape, and as he did, he grabbed Tim's headset. "This is Red Hood to Mission Control! Robin... he's down!" Jason gasped. 

"Good morning, Jason," Lucius said. Jason shook his head. "How bad is it?"

"Multiple stab wounds," he answered. "The guy was running on fumes before, but now..."

"Now he's out of fumes?"

Jason nodded. 

"Okay. You know how to administer emergency first aid. We'll have first responders to the scene as soon as we can, but he needs to get onto his feet. Neither one of you are in any condition to do this alone." 

Jason bit his lip and shook his head as he made bandages out of the cape. It wouldn't be clean, but it would have to do. "Don't pass out on me," he said. Tim shook his head. "I mean it! We're not done here." 

"Hood..."

Jason turned off his commlink and got close to Tim's face. "Listen, Tim," he hissed. "We are getting Dick off this island, we are saving those hostages and we are getting you home to that baby and you are going to be the best father you can be."

Tim smiled. "When... did you become the optimist?" He asked between heavy breaths. 

Jason grimaced. "One of us has to be." He finished the wounds and helped Tim to his feet. “Come on. Up you go.” Tim got up, but he stumbled forward. “Don’t… pass out on me,” Jason said. They took a few steps and the weight on his shoulder became heavier. “Stay awake, Robin. We’re not done.”

“Tell Barb…”

“Hush.” Jason clenched his fists. He just needed to get him back. But the weight wouldn’t relinquish. Tim’s knees buckled, and he put his full weight on Jason. “Robin…?” The body fell from his shoulder and bounced off the wet ground. “ _Robin!”_

 


	12. We're All See Through Just Like Glass

 

_Gotham General Hospital  
4:00 am _

The sound of a baby’s cry pierced the room; but Barbara couldn’t feel as much joy as she thought she would feel at the birth of her child. Tears rolled down her cheeks, mixing with the sweat on her face. They weren’t just tears of joy. They were tears of pain, worry and fear. She gripped her father’s hand tightly. “He… He should be here,” she said through gasps.

“I know,” Jim whispered, running his hands through her hair. “I know…” She knew he didn’t have any words. What could be said at this point?

“Mrs. Drake… Would you like to meet your daughter?” the nurse asked.

Barbara turned her head slowly to the small bundle in the man’s arms. The infant wiggled in the blanket. All the worry seemed to melt in that moment as she reached up and took her child from his arms. She stroked the girl’s head as tears fell from her eyes faster.

“Did you two pick out a name?” Jim asked. It was a simple question, but it brought everything back to the forefront. The pain and worry returned and Barbara help their daughter tighter. His question reminded her that Tim wasn’t there to celebrate the birth of their child. It reminded her that he may never actually meet his daughter.

With that thought in mind, she held their child close to her chest. Quiet sobs shook her body. “Stephanie…” she whispered. “Her name is Stephanie…”

_Bludhaven  
4:02 am_

“Lucius, I’ve got something,” Bruce said. He had set up a large computer set up. It was smaller than what he had in the batcave, but larger than what most people would have in their office in a small apartment in downtown Bludhaven. He was cradling a child in his lap while typing with the other hand. The toddler looked to be about three or four years old.

“You’ve got something? What is it?”

“How are my boys?” Bruce asked, glaring at the computer. He had heard most of what the others were saying, but the cameras had cut out where Jason and Tim had last been seen.

Lucius sighed, clearly annoyed by Bruce’s insistence on knowing how his kids were doing. “Tim’s in a bad way. Everything is going pear shaped out there.”

“And Dick?”

“No change,” he answered.

Bruce frowned. That was good, he supposed. No change was better than a downward spiral. “Project Dove,” he said after a minute. There was nothing he could do to save them except get this information to them. “That was the trafficking ring that they took down. They experimented on humans to try and turn them into Metahumans.”

“Why? What good would that do?”

“They were sold,” Bruce continued. “They made Metahumans and then sold them into slavery. Everything from labor to sex from the looks of it. Our “Jane Doe” was a failure project. She apparently was supposed to have a healing touch. That’s what they… ordered…” He said the word with an air of disgust. How anyone could order these experiments to be done on a child was beyond him. It was sickening.

“I’m guessing something went wrong?” Lucius asked.

“Yeah. Instead of healing, her powers were to accelerate cell death.”

“Essentially she rots anything she touches.”

Bruce nodded, though he couldn’t be seen. He couldn’t imagine such an existence. How could anyone live like that? “The Dover Project has been going on for about fifty years…” He paused and shook his head. “How did we all miss this? How did Clark and I let this go on for so long?”

“You can’t be expected to know everything that’s going on,” Lucius tried to reason.

Bruce knew that to be true, but he didn’t even want to think about how those people had suffered. They had probably heard stories of super heroes coming in and rescuing everyone… And those heroes never came. It was no wonder they had such a grudge against heroes. “Bring them home, Lucius…”

“I’ll try…”

_Grand Island: Prison Ward_  
_Hostages Saved: 24_  
 _Hostages Killed: 13_  
 _4:06 am_

“Help him!” Jason shouted at the officers. They were standing back, away from him because he was pointing his machine gun at their line. Tim was lying on the ground. His breathing was irregular, and the wounds still leaked blood. He would die without their help, but none of them moved. “Please!”

“You’re the Red Hood,” one said cautiously.

Jason let out an exasperated hiss. “Don’t let our petty squabble stand between you and saving this man’s life.”

“Petty?” she snapped. “You paralyzed my partner!”

“He got in my way,” Jason defended, though it was a poor defense. He’d shoot down every last one of them if they wouldn’t help Tim. “Please… Forget what you know about me and just save him.”

One of the other officers stepped forward. He was cautious at first, but then he ran to Tim’s side. Jason looked at the other people before kneeling beside the two. “What can I do?”

“Get the armor off.”

With a nod, Jason started helping the man get the armor off of Tim. He grunted softly, but otherwise had no response to their work. The rain was relentless, but the cold was helping to keep Tim from bleeding out faster. “Name’s Bailey,” the man said.

“Jason…” He figured that there was no point in hiding it. Everyone knew he name now.

Bailey nodded and turned back to Tim’s wounds. “We’ve been chasing you all this time. Who would have thought you’d be just a kid…?”

Jason wanted to laugh, but he didn’t. Kid wasn’t the word he would use to describe himself. He knew that, despite his age, he wasn’t a child anymore. There was nothing in him that was a child. Bruce had killed the child in him long before Joker had ever gotten a hold of him. He looked down at Tim. This man seemed more like a child. He hadn’t been touched by the tragedy that the others in their little family had been. “Will he be okay?”

Bailey shook his head. “It’s hard to tell… But, despite being stab wounds, they’re actually pretty superficial. She didn’t hurt anything that badly. He… should be fine.”

Jason nodded and stood from where he was. “I’m going to get the other hostages. Stay here.” He picked up the gun. Without acknowledging the others, he started walking towards the stage shows. This would end now, and he’d do it his way. It didn’t matter that this wasn’t how Tim would do it. Now they had two Robins down and he wasn’t about to watch them die so he could take his time saving the lives of criminals.

“Are you going to kill them?” the female officer asked. Jason didn’t even bother with a yes or a no. What he did now was none of their concern. “You shouldn’t.”

“I shouldn’t do a lot of things,” Jason said quietly. He didn’t even look back. He had made a promise to Tim that he would get home and meet his daughter, and he wasn’t about to go back on that promise. If there was a promise that meant anything, it was this one.

The hostages at the stage shows had been moved. The sun would be rising soon, and they wanted this game to end as much as Jason did. He counted the remaining people and cocked his gun. The guards wouldn’t give up without a fight, but neither would he.

He jumped into the area and put the gun on his shoulder. “Evening, boys and girls. Are you ready for a show?”

The leader stepped forward. “You aren’t the bird we were expecting.”

Jason smirked, even though deep down he knew that he would have Tim be here. These guys probably wanted a Robin that didn’t kill. They weren’t as lucky as their co-workers. “Well, that’s what you get when your teammates stab the wrong man. So now you’re dealing with Red Hood.”

The man smiled. “Good. We weren’t told to take you in alive.” Jason ran at the man and jumped at him, throwing him back. Before he had time to recover, Jason put a bullet in his head. He was quick with the others, jumping at them and alternating between throwing them and firing bullets. The hostages fled the scene as Jason turned the mud into a bloody battle field. He heard shouts of pain and realized that the guards were probably shooting the fleeing people.

He grabbed the man firing at the people and used his knife to end him through the back. There was a loud shout and he spun around to be face to face with another man; the last one. Jason pulled the trigger, but the gun clicked without firing. “Out of ammo,” the guard sneered.

“You’re lucky.” He wiped the blood from his brow and discarded the dead weapon.

The guard looked around at the carnage. None of the hostages had died, but one was on the ground, holding her leg. He didn’t even know if it had been one of his bullets to injure her. “Lucky? You think these people meant nothing to me?”

Jason scoffed. “I don’t care. You’re a criminal.”

“You are naïve if you think you’re _not.”_

The thunder rolled and the freezing rain chilled him to his bone. “I know what I am.”

“Do you?”

“I’m a hero trying to do what’s right in this world. Anyone who thinks you can save the world without causalities is deluding themselves.” He gestured to the bodies on the ground. “ _This_ is the cost of peace.”

They stood for a moment in silence after that. Rain was all that was between him. When the guard lifted his gun at Jason, he didn’t even flinch. “Then you will pay for it with your blood as well.”

“We’ll see.” A gunshot rang out through the night, but Jason ducked and ran at the man. He slid in the mud, sweeping the guard’s legs out from under him. They both went down, but Jason was faster. He was on top of him within seconds. He grabbed the man’s head and snapped his neck without anything to say. The deed done, he stood up in the bloody mess of his own creation. The woman’s whimper broke him out of his thoughts and he went to her. She gasped and shied away from him as he went to help her up. “I’m trying to help you.”

“You… you killed them!”

“Yes, ma’am… I did.” He helped her to her feet and supported her on his shoulder. “I did it to save people.” _I’m not the bad guy, here._ He sighed. _I guess I’m not the good guy, either. That would be Tim._ He had an air of respect for both his predecessor and successor. They were better people than he could ever be. But he knew that was who they were. They were better and that was okay. He wasn’t trying to be better.

When he came back to the where he had left the first responders, Tim was sitting up and taking water from Bailey’s hands. “Welcome back. I thought we had lost you.”

“Not rid of me that quickly.” Tim stood slowly with Bailey’s help. He stumbled a little before settling. The man smiled at him. “You do it?”

Jason nodded, taking all that implied. He knew that Tim saw the blood on his chest, mixed in with the caked mud. No one said anything. “Come on… We need to get Nightwing off of this island.” Tim nodded, and the group started moving. Jason hung back, keeping his head down. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t as good as they were. He didn’t need to be. There was a dark side to everything… and he’d be the dark side of their flock.

 

Tim didn’t say anything as they walked back to the tent. He was afraid that once they got there, they’d find Dick dead, and everything would have been for not; though he couldn’t deny that saving the hostages was probably better than saving just Nightwing. His knees were weak, and he felt like he could sleep for a month. It was almost over.

When they rounded the corner, Tim froze. The color drained from his face and he almost collapsed. His knees shook as a wave of nausea washed over him.

Doe was standing outside with the hostages that he had saved one their knees with guns to their heads. A large firing squad faced them. A blink of an eye and everyone would be dead. Dick was on his hands and knees in front of Doe. His arms were shaking, but he was awake.

“Well done, Robin,” Doe called. “You only lost thirteen hostages. That’s actually impressive.”

Tim didn’t move. He didn’t know what to do. What would Batman do? Even if he were there, he couldn’t save everyone. “Is this my final test?” Doe nodded and pulled Dick onto his knees so that he was facing Tim. She put her pistol to the back of his head. “You want me to save Nightwing or the hostages?” Tim asked.

Doe laughed. It was a chilling, horrible sound and it made Tim feel sick. “No. If _only_ it were that simple, my friend.” She lifted the pistol and offered it to Tim. “ _Kill_ Nightwing, or I order them to kill the hostages.”

Tim froze, and his mouth went dry. They had set up cameras in the area by that point. Boom mics and everything. The whole city, and a good portion of the country, he imagined, was watching. Jason stepped forward to take the weapon, but before Tim could stop him, Doe pulled the gun back from his outreached hand.

“No, Hood… We all know what side of the killing floor you land on. I want Robin to do it.” She gestured to the cameras. “I want Gotham to know what’s more important to him; his precious code that keeps him from killing the scum of the earth, or the lives of these innocent people at the cost of his own morality.” She pushed Nightwing forward and it was all he could do to stay upright in a kneeling position. Tim stared down at him. His mouth was dry, and he felt hot despite the rain. This was a live execution.

Dick was pale and shaking. His chances of survival were low and dropping by the second. Tim reached forward and his hand wrapped around the grip of the gun. A shiver went through his body as he did so. It wasn’t even like he was doing this. It was like his hands were moving on their own; the basic instinct of sacrificing one to save many was moving his body while his mind screamed at him to stop. “And if I kill you instead?” he asked with such a deadpan tone, he couldn’t believe those words were his.

Doe gestured to the gunmen. “Then these men will gun down everyone in this area. You may be able to save some of them, but not enough to justify letting this man live.” She kicked Dick to the ground. He fell with a wet thud. Tim moved to help him but froze as Dick forced himself back to his knees, despite his shaking. “Look at him, Robin. You’d be doing him a favor. He’s already knocking on death’s door! You just have to open it!”

It was true. He didn’t look great and his chances of surviving to the hospital were slim. Dick looked up at him, his eyes glazed over from pain, exhaustion and fever. “Robin… It’s okay,” he whispered.

“It’s _not_ okay!” Tim snapped. “None of this is okay!” He turned to Doe. “What’s the point? You’re going to prove what? That heroes sometimes make compromises in order to save the larger collective? Of course they do! That’s our job!”

“No, because I don’t think you’ll do it,” she said. “You’d rather try and fight your way out and lose a few innocent lives in order to protect your sense of morality. You’ll let this man die of natural causes and at least half these hostages from lead poisoning all in the name of protecting your precious code! What’s more important to you Robin? The lives of the innocent or the aversion to killing that Batman instilled in you?”

Tim turned his eyes from Dick to the camera. He stared into the lens and to the people watching. To the families that were holding their breaths, waiting for him to give up his own soul so their loved ones could live. Or, only one more family had to lose someone that night. He lifted the gun and placed it to his own chin. “Robin!” Dick gasped.

“Is this an option?” he asked. His hands were shaking, but he’d do it. He’d do it in a heartbeat. He’d do it to protect everyone else. He just prayed that Barbara wasn’t watching this.

She laughed. “You’d rather die than compromise. Isn’t suicide against your no-kill policy?”

Theoretically, she was correct, but Batman’s code never went down to suicide. Bruce would rather give him life than let others die. “No, because I choose this route.”

“And I choose my own death!” Dick snapped weakly. “Don’t throw everything away for _me!”_

Doe stepped forward and stared at Tim through her mask. “Go ahead, but no one will make it off this island if you do. The way I see it, you have three options here. You either try to fight your way out of here without killing anyone. The lives of those you lose if you take this route will be on you, but at least you won’t break you code.” She pointed to him. “You could also take your own life and leave poor little Hood here to clean up, which would of course lead to the deaths of most, if not all of the people in this room. Or…” She grabbed Dick’s hair and yanked his head back. “You take this sacrificial lamb, spill his blood and walk about of here with the hostages you’ve saved, but the knowledge that you murdered a man in cold blood.”

“There’s no winning this game,” Tim said after a moment of silence. “For either of us.” He pointed the gun to the ground. “I won’t do it.”

She nodded as if she had been expecting him to say that. He could almost hear her grinning when she spoke again. “I knew you wouldn’t. Ready, men!” Tim stiffened as dozens of guns cocked.

“Robin,” Dick snapped. “You have to! You can’t… you can’t let these people die for me!” Tim looked at the group of people cowering in the area. Jason was readying himself, but both of them were exhausted and not fit enough to take down all the gunmen before they filled these people with holes. Cries and pleading started from the group. He wanted to yell at them to stand and fight for themselves, but he knew that was asking too much. They weren’t trained for this and they were scared. “Robin… please…” He paused, and Tim could see his eyes welling up with pain and fear. “I promised you…”

"Alright!" Tim shouted. Doe lifted her hand and the men lowered their weapons. Tim shook his head and raised the pistol. There was only one option. That conversation between them in the rain when he had accepted this mission seemed like a lifetime ago. He had held that promise to Dick and now… now he was supposed to end this with that promise… that promise he wished he had never accepted. He shouldn’t have accepted it.

One bullet to the head and this would all be over. One shot and the only person who had to die would be dead. He put the gun to Dick’s forehead. To Dick’s credit, he didn’t flinch. He stared up at Tim with clear and focused eyes for the first time since his near drowning experience earlier that evening. “I’m so sorry…” Tim whispered. “He… he could have saved you.”

Dick looked up at him with a soft, resigned smile. It was almost like he was at peace. Tim closed his eyes and gripped the gun tightly. “It’s okay, Robin…”


	13. And We Can Shatter Just As Fast

 

_Bludhaven:  
5:30 am_

Bruce walked the floor with the toddler resting on his shoulder. He patted the infant on the back as he paced. The motion was soothing to the child, but stressful to Bruce. He ran his fingers through the boy’s dark hair in an attempt to calm his own nerves. The TV let out a simple, single tone that sounded too much like the emergency broadcast signal. The cameras from Grand Island had lost their signal, leaving the channel useless and full of static.

That static and that sound were the only things in that room. The computer had long been turned off and the curtains were drawn, denying the grey morning its ability to penetrate the living room. No, the only light was the white noise on the TV and the only sound was the single tone and footsteps as he moved across the hardwood floor.

“Master Bruce…”

“I should have been there, Alfred,” Bruce said without looking at the man from where he stood in the dark kitchen. “He shouldn’t have had to make that choice… He shouldn’t…” He swallowed. “They were just children when I brought them into this mess.”

“They all chose this, sir.”

The words were of little comfort to Bruce. “I didn’t discourage them enough. I should have told them no… I should have just adopted them and not brought them into this. Now…” His voice choked, and he swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Then they would have worried if their father was coming home every night. The worry is almost as bad as the fighting, Bruce.”

Bruce stopped pacing. His hand ran down the spine of the child in his arms; the child he had no intention of turning into a soldier. The child he wanted to have the normal life that the Robins could never have. “I should have been there,” he repeated. He closed his eyes and for several minutes, the tone played in the house; an eerie reminder of what had happened on Grand Island.

“Tell me, Bruce… What would Batman have done…?”

_Grand Island  
4:40 am_

The dirty secret about carnivals was that their games were unwinnable by design. The darts were dull. The balloons were half full. The rope ladders were poorly balanced. The bottles were full of lead. The guns didn’t fire straight. Dick had told him this on one mission years ago. They were huddled near a fire, waiting for Bruce to scout the area. They had been told to hang back just in case after a noise had been heard. The silence between then had been awkward. It was just after Barbara had been shot. She had still been in the hospital. Then Dick just started talking about carnivals and circuses; about how unfair they were. It wasn’t fair that people couldn’t win those big prizes. Games that weren’t meant to be won were pointless. It wasn’t fair the carnies were so mean when they over inflated the basketballs or asked customers to complete the impossible task of shooting that stupid red star.

It wasn’t fair that performers were murdered in front of a live audience.

Tim had been in the audience that night… the night Dick’s parents were murdered; the night he had first caught a glimpse of Batman. The Graysons had died with strangers staring at them. And now, their son would die the same way; murdered in cold blood in front of a live audience. It would have been almost poetic had it not been so damn unfair.

Tim couldn’t look as his finger hovered over the trigger. It hadn’t been more than a heartbeat, but it felt like an eternity. He squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t look. With a pained grunt, he pulled the trigger. Carnivals weren’t meant to be won. They were meant to take your money and your hope of ever winning.

He expected a loud bang and a kickback, but that wasn’t what happened. All that came out of that gun was an anti-climatic click. A wave of relief, confusion and the need to vomit washed over Tim. The gun dropped from his hands and it hit the ground with a dull thunk. He opened his eyes. Dick was staring back up at him with confusion. Tim didn’t have time to question it. He sank to his knees and then to his hands, and then his body reacted, violently expelling the bile he had in his empty stomach.

“I’m impressed,” Doe said. Tim didn’t look up from the pile of sickness on the ground. “I didn’t think you’d do it. I thought your code meant more to you.”

“Shut up,” Tim gasped.

“A deal’s a deal.” She waved her hand and the sound of guns being thrown to the ground filled the air, mixing with the rain. “Take them and leave.”

Tim gripped the ground and his body began to shake. At first he thought he was sobbing. The deperate gasps that wracked his body were consistent with sobs… It came as a surprise to even him that it wasn’t sobs that shook his chest… it was bitter laughter. “That’s it?” he growled. “That’s… _it?!”_ he shouted. “Just like that? You put me and these people through _hell_ and you just want me to leave? Screw you!” He ended in an almost hysterical scream.

His body moved on his own as he lunged at Doe and tackled her to the ground. It was all a game; a show! None of it mattered. It never did! He wrapped his hands around her throat and squeezed. After his outburst, he seemed calmer as he strangled her. He wanted her dead and he didn’t care what anyone said. He didn’t care anymore. Batman’s code didn’t matter at that moment. Some people didn’t deserve his mercy.

Gloved hands grabbed his shoulders and threw him off of Doe and into the dirt. Dick and Jason stood over him, staring down as he stared up at the sky. He went to get back up, but Jason put his boot on his chest. “That’s enough, Robin.”

“Oh, _now_ you grow a conscious?”

“Once you kill… there’s no going back,” Jason said. “It changes you.”

_This changes you,_ Tim thought, but he didn’t move. He took Jason’s outstretched hand and got back on his feet, turning to Doe. “The police will be here soon,” he said.

“Yes, they will.”

Tim turned to Dick and lifted him bridal style, holding him close. His body was hot… too hot, but he had managed to get up to save Tim from himself.

“There never was a bomb, Robin,” Doe called. Tim could hear the helicopters in the distance, coming to evacuate the people. Jason walked beside him. Tim chose not to react to what she had said. “This is what happens to heroes… I would have let you live with yourself if you hadn’t done it.”

“Is that your game? To prove that heroes don’t save people?”

“No one stopped Project Dove because they didn’t know whose jurisdiction it fell under. For years we told stories to each other about the heroes who came from the sky or the shadows… but none of them ever came. They never showed up. They didn’t care…”

A gunshot rang through the night. It was deafening. The split second between the firing and the pain felt like it lasted a lifetime. Tim’s mind flashed to the life he would leave behind. A daughter he’d never see. A home he’d never return to.

He and Dick fell into a bloody heap in the mud. Rain soaked his face. He struggled for breath and the world slowly faded around him, dragging him down into unconsciousness. He caught a glimpse of SWAT members running towards them before his vision faded and he slipped away.

_Gotham General Hospital  
noon_

Jason sat up in his bed. He couldn’t leave even if he wanted to. They had handcuffed him to the bed. Jim was standing in the doorway, watching him silently. “How are they?” he asked.

“Barbara and the baby are fine,” Jim answered without moving.

“And Robin…? Nightwing?”

Jim looked out of the doorway and then stepped inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. “Tim’s out of surgery. He’ll be out of commission for a while… but he’s not okay.”

“And Dick?”

Jim sighed. He leaned against the wall. That was never a good sign. “He’s still in surgery,” he said quietly. “He’s hurt very badly. They don’t think they can save his leg…”

Jason closed his eyes. “And me?”

“Technically, you’re under arrest for a lot of things.”

“Figured…”

“You and Barbara were friends… you trained with Batman… Why this?”

Jason scoffed dryly. “Because Joker got me,” he said quietly. “You don’t know… what he did to me… what I can never get away from…”

Jim sighed. They stayed in silence for what seemed like hours. Neither knew what to say and neither had an idea of what to do now. Jim moved without saying another word and left. Once he was gone, Jason worked on the handcuffs. Tim wasn’t okay, and Dick wasn’t going back to Bludhaven any time soon… if ever.

He unlocked the handcuffs and hurried to the window.

“Didn’t take you long…” Jim said from the doorway.

“Are you going to stop me?”

The answer was given by Jim’s silence and stillness. Jason nodded and leapt from the building; out into the streets where he called home.

_One Year Later…  
Gotham_

Tim stared at himself in the mirror. The scars on his body were fading nicely. They were less ugly. They would never truly fade away, but they would become just another feature to his body… The scars on his mind, however, would take longer to fade. He turned and grabbed his suit, putting it on as thunder rolled outside.

They were out of that small apartment. A puppy slept on the bed behind him and was disturbed when he took a comb to his hair, having let it grow out since that night. The small German Shephard pup yawned and leapt off the bed when the door opened, revealing Barbara in the doorway.

“You look good,” she said.

He smiled and ran his hands over the suit. “It’s weird without the cape.” He turned to the window. Across the water was Gotham… the city that he had given everything to and it had only given him heartache in return.

Barbara laughed. “It’s just a business transaction.”

“I’d rather have the cape,” Tim grimaced. He walked over to Barbara and kissed her gently on the forehead. “Is Dick here yet?”

“Should be coming any minute now.”

“Good.” He turned back to the city and sighed. The old Wayne house would take years to get it back in working condition, but they needed a base and he knew Bruce wouldn’t mind. He walked through the house until he made it to the living room, and froze when he saw someone sitting on their couch with their daughter in his arms. Tim reached for his stash of shuriken that he kept in his civilian clothes, but he paused. “Jason…?”

The man sitting on the couch was wearing a black suit and gloves and a white mask with a red X painted over the right eye. “Barbara let me in,” he said.

Tim turned to his wife as she came up behind him. “You should have told me we’d be having a visit from Red Hood.”

“It’s Red X now, actually,” Jason said. He held the infant, supporting her blonde head like a professional.

Tim narrowed his eyes. “Where are you active? I haven’t seen you around Gotham…”

“Bludhaven. Nightwing wasn’t returning, so it needed a hero.”

Tim didn’t respond to that. He still felt guilty about Dick’s condition, but he didn’t show it. The grief would fade eventually; but he could never get the feeling of pulling that trigger out of his mind. He had killed Nightwing that night, regardless of whether or not Dick survived.

The moment passed and Jason shrugged and looked at Tim for a moment, taking note of his business suit. “Oh, yeah. The Wayne deal. I’m surprised you were able to purchase that old place. The city was supposed to demolish the remains, weren’t they?”

“For once, I’m happy the government is slow.”

Jason nodded. “There’s not going to be much left in the batcave. He would have destroyed it.”

Tim shrugged. They could rebuild the cave. Bruce had left them with enough money to do whatever they wanted; though he probably wasn’t anticipating them buying the old mansion. “We can rebuild it. I’ve already called Lucius. He practically jumped at the chance. Something’s got him very excited.”

“Any ideas?”

Tim shook his head. “None.”

The door opened, and Dick stood in the doorway. He was thin and still rather pale, but a smile was plastered on his face. He was dressed in a business suit as well, ready to close the deal on the house. They had been working on it for a couple months; the buying and the cleaning. Dick patted his leg and a hollow, plastic clunk rang out; a bitter reminder.

“He, X,” Dick said.

Tim sighed. Of course… “You knew about this?”

“Lucius and I helped him with the tech.” He turned to Jason. “What brings you here?”

“I wanted to see the house and I can’t exactly run around Gotham as Jason Todd. He’s dead, remember?”

Tim frowned. Jason, or Red Hood, died in the hospital of an infection from Doe’s touch. Tim himself didn’t even know that Jason was alive until he called him up one day asking how Stephanie was doing. Jim had helped him escape and fake his death, but had kept the rest of the family in the dark about it. “Let’s go…” He started for the door, but froze when he looked out across the water to the city. The signal of a bird in flight was shining into the dark storm clouds.

He groaned. “Great…”

Barbara smiled and pulled up beside Tim. She grabbed his hand. “Steph and I will go to Wayne Enterprise and close the deal. You go save the city.”

Just once... Just once he’d like to go a day without donning his other suit. But today was not that day. He ran back into the room to change while Dick hurried to their mission control that they had built in the house.

Once changed, he came into the living room. X was handing Stephanie to Barbara as he did. Tim stopped at Barbara and kissed her at the top of her head. “I love you…” he whispered.

“I love you, too. Dinner will be ready at nine. Try to be home by then.” Her tone was soft and loving and Tim couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have someone willing to deal with the stress of his nightly patrols and the terror of his screams at night. He picked up their daughter from her arms and held her close to his chest. He wanted something different for her. He never wanted her to know who and what he was. He kissed her head and returned her to her mother before running out with Red X behind him. Their house was secluded enough that he could run out the front door.

“Nightfall to Red Robin,” Dick said through the commlink. “The robbery is in Bristol.”

“Dent?”

“Not that I know of,” Dick said.

Tim sighed. He and Jason got into a pseudo batcar to head into Gotham. “Red X?” he asked.

“Red Robin?” Jason countered.

Tim laughed. “I guess we should have named Dick Red Night…”

“I can hear you two.”

“Whatever, Nightfall,” Jason teased.

Tim shook his head and pulled the car out. “Let’s go to work…”

_Ten Years Later…  
Bludhaven_

Jason walked away from the criminal’s body. He may have changed, but he still believed that criminals didn’t deserve mercy. They chose to break the law, and this was their consequences. He put the gun in his holster and jumped up a fire escape to escape onto the roof. He closed her eyes, watching the police come to collect the body. He had learned not to leave a calling card on the bodies, though the police usually knew it was him who had done it.

Once the body was cleaned up, he stood and turned, freezing once he realized that a child was staring at him. The boy was wearing a dark grey, armored suit and a tattered cape. It was clearly handmade and had been worn out by training or other means. The child also wore a face plated mask that hid every feature. “What do you want, kid?” Jason asked. He didn’t wait for an answer. He instead leapt onto another building. The boy ran towards the gap. “Hey! You aren’t gonna make it!” he shouted, but the boy lunged all the same.

The jump was off, and the gap was too large. Jason hissed and leapt off of the building. He fell faster and grabbed the child. Once he had the boy in his arms, he used the grappling hook to stop their fall. They landed hard in the alleyway, but he had slowed them down enough to keep them safe. “You idiot!” Jason hissed. “What the hell do you want?”

The boy stood up straight. “I want you to train me,” he said.

Jason laughed and turned away. “Forget that. You’re nothing but a liability to me. That, and I work alone.”

“Batman worked alone,” the boy countered.

“You don’t want to get involved, kid.” He started walking away. The kid would get himself killed eventually, and then he’d be rid of the street rat. “I don’t need a sidekick.”

“You’re supposed to be dead, aren’t you?”

Jason didn’t stop walking, but he slowed down a little.

“I read it. You were on Grand Island and you died that night… or everyone believes…” the boy said. Jason stopped. “Am I right, Jason?”

Jason narrowed his eyes and turned back to the boy. How’d he figure it out? It wasn’t entirely obvious that Red X and Red Hood were the same person; not with all of the police records and dental records that confirmed Jason Todd’s death. Jim had been thorough to make sure that if anyone ever looked into the death of Jason Todd, they would know that he was dead.

Jason took a step towards the masked kid. “Who are you…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I have finished it! This story was a lot of fun! I'm considering writing a sequel called Arkham Saints. I've already planned it a lot, and it won't be as dreary as this one! But. maybe I will, maybe i won't. I haven't decided yet. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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